20180414
A RATIONAL RESPONSE TO CRISIS AS A NECESSARY
PRELUDE TO FAITH
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Acts 6:1-7 ©
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They elected seven men full of the Holy Spirit
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About this time, when the number of disciples was increasing, the
Hellenists made a complaint against the Hebrews: in the daily distribution
their own widows were being overlooked. So the Twelve called a full meeting of
the disciples and addressed them, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the
word of God so as to give out food; you, brothers, must select from among
yourselves seven men of good reputation, filled with the Spirit and with
wisdom; we will hand over this duty to them, and continue to devote ourselves
to prayer and to the service of the word.’ The whole assembly approved of this
proposal and elected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit,
together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus of
Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these to the apostles, who prayed
and laid their hands on them.
The word of
the Lord continued to spread: the number of disciples in Jerusalem was greatly
increased, and a large group of priests made their submission to the faith.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 32(33):1-2,4-5,18-19 ©
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May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place
all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just;
for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.
Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp,
with a ten-stringed lute sing him songs.
May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place
all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
For the word of the Lord is faithful
and all his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves justice and right
and fills the earth with his love.
May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place
all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord looks on those who revere him,
on those who hope in his love,
to rescue their souls from death,
to keep them alive in famine.
May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place
all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Rm6:9
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again.
Death has no power over him any more.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen, he who created all things,
and has granted his mercy to men.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 6:16-21 ©
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They saw Jesus walking on the lake
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In the evening the disciples went down to the shore of the lake
and got into a boat to make for Capernaum on the other side of the lake. It was
getting dark by now and Jesus had still not rejoined them. The wind was strong,
and the sea was getting rough. They had rowed three or four miles when they saw
Jesus walking on the lake and coming towards the boat. This frightened them,
but he said, ‘It is I. Do not be afraid.’ They were for taking him into the
boat, but in no time it reached the shore at the place they were making for.
14 APRIL, 2018, Saturday, 2nd Week of Easter
A RATIONAL RESPONSE TO CRISIS AS A NECESSARY PRELUDE TO FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 6:1-7; JOHN 6:16-21 ]
Today’s gospel
is sandwiched between the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and the
discourse on the Eucharist. John wants to prepare us for the full meaning of
the Eucharist. The multiplication of loaves reminds the Jews of how God fed the
Israelites with manna in the desert. Today’s crossing of the sea reminds
them of the whole Exodus passage when they were pursued by the Egyptian Army,
but God saved them all. So the storm and wind speak of the dangers they
were facing. But what is important is that God is with us through all these
struggles in life. He is with us in the storm and He is present to us par
excellence in the Bread of life, which is the Word of God and the Eucharist.
This gospel
message is as timely for the Church now as it was during the primitive days. As
the early Church grew in number, it faced division arising from the failure to
observe justice. There were complaints about unfair distribution of food
and discrimination by the Greek-speaking Christians. Their widows were
being neglected by the Church, unlike the Palestinian widows who spoke Hebrew.
This was a potential problem, for if left unaddressed it could sow seeds of
resentment and cause the early Church to break apart.
This issue of
preserving the unity of a growing Church is not new. It is a constant challenge
in any Christian community today. Every organization that grows too fast
and becomes big will face the challenge of attending to the personal needs of
every member of the community. The truth is that when the organism gets
larger, its leaders are bound to lose touch with their members at a personal
level. As such, the real issues on the ground sometimes do not reach the
ears and the attention of the leaders early enough, or adequately. No
community is perfect and can ever be. When a community expands, there is
bound to be miscommunication, often giving rise to misunderstandings and
suspicion. Disillusionment is often the reason for people to leave the
Church because they feel that their interests are not met and that they do not
belong. Jealousy and favoritism will cause the community to break apart.
If we feel that
we are being threatened, then the scripture readings assure us that Jesus
is not far, but that He is in our midst even when we are in the storm.
There is no need to get discouraged or be afraid. This is what Jesus was
assuring the disciples, as the boat tossing in the waves is a symbol of the
Church under trial and tribulation. We need to let Jesus into our
lives. What do we do in the face of problems and challenges?
The first thing
that faith requires of us is to immediately set ourselves to tackle the
situation as soon as we can before it gains momentum and gets out of control.
This calls for a human response to a practical problem at hand. We note
that immediately the apostles “called a full meeting of the disciples and
addressed them, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the word of God so as
to give out food; you, brothers, must select from among yourselves seven men of
good reputation, filled with the Spirit and with wisdom; we will hand over this
duty to them, and continue to devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of
the word.’” This decision of theirs was a quick and decisive response to
a potential conflict that was simmering and threatening to become explosive.
What is
notable is that the apostles did not try to resolve the problems themselves. They knew their
limitations and were clear of their calling, which they said, is “to devote
ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word.” They did not allow
practical issues to side track their objectives. Keeping focus on their mission
and calling prevented them from allowing secondary issues to hinder them from
their real vocation in the Church. As Church leaders, lay and clerical, we
often get carried away with micro-managing, so much so we end up doing all the
tasks that should have been delegated to others. Instead of focusing on
the vision, we end up attending to all the secondary issues, executing the
mission but losing sight of the objective.
When we fail
to delegate, we fail to realize that Jesus is with the Church, the Body of
Christ, and not just in the hierarchy and the appointed leaders. So we should
take a page and learn from the apostles how they engaged the rest of the community
in getting things done. Instead of dictating how things were to be done, they
delegated the task to a group of men chosen by the community themselves, and
“prayed and laid their hands on them.” Of course, delegation is not a
matter of just having people appointed to undertake some tasks, as some leaders
who over-delegate are wont to do. That would be another costly mistake to
make if the tasks are given to the wrong people. Leaders must therefore
ask for the wisdom of God to choose wise men who are well known for their piety
and prudence. Pushing the buck to someone else who is not suitable for
the task would cause more trouble than be of help.
However, whilst
we should act rationally in the face of challenges, we should, as
Church, not merely look at our problems purely on the level of intelligence and
common sense. Of course, grace does not destroy human nature and we
must make use of the natural resources and natural endowments that God has
blessed us with. This is another mistake Church leadership quite often
fall prey to. Everything is seen as in the corporate world, on the
logical level. This approach, whilst not wrong, is inadequate because we
leave out the dimension of grace that comes through faith. It is
important that when examining the issues at hand, we should bring them to the
Lord in faith and listen to what the Lord wants to tell us. Isn’t this the gift
of wisdom and understanding that the Holy Spirit gives to the Church? It
is a knowledge that goes beyond mere natural human calculation.
This was the
message that Jesus wanted to prepare His disciples for in the greatest miracle,
which is the Eucharist. He prefaced the exposition on the Eucharist by
the miracles of the multiplication of loaves and the calming of the
storm. There are many things in life that are beyond reason, such
as the real presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. Of course, it is beyond
human comprehension that wine and bread could be transformed into the body and
blood of Christ, and indeed many non-Catholics mock at our Catholic belief in
the real presence of our Lord in the Eucharist.
As in the case
of the storm, when the disciples were so afraid of drowning as “the wind was
strong, and the sea was getting rough”, the Lord unexpectedly came into
their midst. The evangelist noted, “they had rowed three or four
miles when they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming towards the boat. This
frightened them, but he said, ‘It is I. Do not be afraid.’” What is even
more significant was that when Jesus came to them, they were brought to the
shore on time. “They were for taking him into the boat, but in no time it
reached the shore at the place they were making for.” With the calming
presence of Jesus, their fears were wiped away. They found peace and
safety. From one of fear of death, they received a new lease of
life. Such is the power of divine intervention, especially when we least
expect it. The disciples did not even cry out for help. They must
have been busy wrestling with the storm until Jesus intervened miraculously and
took them away from the storm to the shore.
Again, faith
in miracles demand that we dare to let go and let God take over. This does not mean that we
have to abandon reason. But reason must not restrict the possibility of
the intervention of divine grace and is always open to the impossible. It
presupposes that we are ready to surrender our reason after we have done all we
could and learn to trust in the Lord instead. It requires us to surrender
all our decisions to God and allow God to be the Lord of our lives, especially
when it means taking risky choices, sometimes even against the grain of reason.
This demands that we are ready to die to ourselves and our plans and take the
adventure of faith, like Abraham, the prophets, Christ and the apostles.
Can we be open to the radical intervention of God, or do we want to play safe
by following our human reasoning alone?
If reason
alone can solve all problems, then faith is not needed at all! If the Church depended on
human ingenuity, then the Church would merely be another ideological
establishment in the world, propagating its ideas. The Church would then
not be divine, nor the institutions, like the sacraments, be efficacious, as
they would remain only rituals. Rather, the Church is the work of the
Holy Spirit and the power of God at work in the world. We must not resist
the Holy Spirit and never presume to work without a conscious awareness of the
Holy Spirit in our lives. For this reason, using our human resources to
deal with the challenges ahead of us must always be combined with human
prudence, but always in the context of prayer and faith. So it is the
seamless unity and balance between faith and reason, grace and nature, prayer
and work, human authority and divine power, institution and divine authority,
that will ensure that God works powerfully in and through us. So leaders
must pray as much as they work for a solution when confronted with
challenges. Without faith in God’s grace and in prayer, we will only lead
our people further into the storm.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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