20180602 PERSONAL AUTHORITY OF LEADERS COMES FROM FAITH THAT WORKS ITSELF
THROUGH LOVE
02 JUNE, 2018, Saturday, 8th Week,
Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Jude 1:17,20-25 ©
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Use your most holy faith as your foundation
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Remember, my dear friends, what the apostles of our Lord Jesus
Christ told you to expect. But you, my dear friends, must use your most holy
faith as your foundation and build on that, praying in the Holy Spirit; keep
yourselves within the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ to give you eternal life. When there are some who have doubts reassure
them; when there are some to be saved from the fire, pull them out; but there
are others to whom you must be kind with great caution, keeping your distance
even from outside clothing which is contaminated by vice.
Glory be to
him who can keep you from falling and bring you safe to his glorious presence,
innocent and happy. To God, the only God, who saves us through Jesus Christ our
Lord, be the glory, majesty, authority and power, which he had before time
began, now and for ever. Amen.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 62(63):2-6 ©
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For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord, my God.
O God, you are my God, for you I long;
for you my soul is thirsting.
My body pines for you
like a dry, weary land without water.
For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord, my God.
So I gaze on you in the sanctuary
to see your strength and your glory.
For your love is better than life,
my lips will speak your praise.
For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord, my God.
So I will bless you all my life,
in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul shall be filled as with a banquet,
my mouth shall praise you with joy.
For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord, my God.
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Gospel Acclamation
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1P1:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of the Lord remains for ever:
What is this word?
It is the Good News that has been brought to you.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.Col3:16a,17
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Let the message of Christ, in all its richness,
find a home with you;
through him give thanks to God the Father.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 11:27-33 ©
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I will not tell you my authority for acting like this
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Jesus and his disciples came to Jerusalem, and as Jesus was
walking in the Temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to
him, and they said to him, ‘What authority have you for acting like this? Or
who gave you authority to do these things?’ Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you
a question, only one; answer me and I will tell you my authority for acting
like this. John’s baptism: did it come from heaven, or from man? Answer me
that.’ And they argued it out this way among themselves: ‘If we say from
heaven, he will say, “Then why did you refuse to believe him?” But dare we say
from man?’ – they had the people to fear, for everyone held that John was
a real prophet. So their reply to Jesus was, ‘We do not know.’ And Jesus said
to them, ‘Nor will I tell you my authority for acting like this.’
PERSONAL AUTHORITY OF LEADERS COMES FROM FAITH THAT WORKS ITSELF
THROUGH LOVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ JUDE 17:20-25; MK 11:27-33 ]
In the gospel
today, the authority of Jesus was questioned by the Jewish leaders.
Without mincing their words, they said to him, “What authority have you for
acting like this? Or who gave you the authority to do these
things?” The response given by Jesus might appear to be paradoxical but
in fact it forced the Jewish leaders to admit their fear and prejudice against
Him.
By citing the
example of John the Baptist, who was popularly acknowledged as a great prophet
by all the common people and could not be disputed by the Jewish
leaders lest they incurred the wrath of the people, it underscores the fact
that if John the Baptist had won such respect from the people, it was because
of his lifestyle and preaching. We know that John the Baptist lived a
life of poverty in the desert, having only wild locusts and honey for his
food. He preached the baptism of repentance with such forcefulness and
conviction that many who heard him could see the power of God at work in him
and recognized his words as coming from God Himself.
The implication
is that Jesus too based His authority not so much on the institutional office
given to Him, as was the case of the Jewish leaders, but on the authority
that came from His way of life, His identification with the Father and His
works. In John’s gospel, He said, “Believe me that I am in the Father
and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.” (Jn 14:11)
So Jesus was telling the Jewish leaders that His authority could be verified by
the works that He had done.
Truly, in
any discernment of authenticity, we must verify the fruits of the work of the
person. When something is from God or from the Holy Spirit, it will
surely bear good fruit. Not just fruits, but lasting fruits of the
Spirit. Jesus in the gospel taught us that we should judge the tree by
its fruits. So even if we have personal prejudices against a person, let
the enduring fruits of his work substantiate his claims that his mission comes
from God. Conversely, if we are not producing good and lasting fruits,
then we must be weary of the origin of our work, whether it comes from God or
from the human spirit, or worse still, the evil spirit under the guise of the
good spirit.
What does it
mean for us as priests and lay leaders? It is not enough to rest our
authority on the office, be it by ordination or by appointment.
Institutional authority alone cannot command respect from those whom we
serve. We need to complement our institutional authority with personal
authority that comes from a life of faith and love of God. This is what
St Jude said to the Christians. He exhorted them saying, “You must use
your holy faith as your foundation and build on that, praying in the Holy Spirit;
keep yourselves within the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ to give you eternal life.” Indeed, a true Christian leader,
clerical or lay, must act from the authority given to him by Jesus
through faith in Him as the Risen Lord, and bathe in His love and mercy, so
that he would never become too proud, arrogant or self-reliant, but always
surrendering his life and ministry to the power of the Holy Spirit.
Secondly,
this faith in God’s love and mercy must result in a genuine concern for our
brothers and sisters in faith. It is out of love for them that St
Jude urged the Christians to act thus, “when there are some who have doubts,
reassure them; when there are some to be saved from the fire, pull them out;
but there are others to whom you must be kind with great caution, keeping your
distance even from outside clothing which is contaminated by vice.” A
good leader therefore is one who cares for the faith and salvation of his or
her fellow brothers and sisters. Like the Good Shepherd, lay leaders must
show fruits of genuine pastoral care for those who are weak in their faith,
those who are on the way to perdition and those who are living in
sin. When we are sincere in reaching out to such wounded and stray
Christians, they will eventually respond to us as they know we are truly
concerned about their well being and not just an attempt at proselytizing.
All of us in a
certain sense therefore have the authority to proclaim the gospel even if we do
not have institutional authority. By our very lives, we can bring
Jesus to others and convict them of their sin and pride. Through our
good examples of faith and love, we can win the hearts of those who are
searching for God. And as the psalmist tells us, many people are
thirsting for God and waiting to see His power and glory. If we show
kindness to such people and they perceive the kindness as coming from God, they
will be brought to conversion.
Finally, if we are skeptical about
those leaders placed over us or those who claim to be working for God, then we
must be sincere in evaluating the genuineness of their authority.
Before we reject their claims that their work is from God, we must be objective
in examining their works and their fruits. We cannot dismiss a person
simply because we are not inclined to him or her. Worse still, quite
often, the real motives for our rejection of such leaders are due to our
jealousy and insecurity. Our pride and envy of their success make us
envious, and we try to discredit their works. So we must pray that we do
not work against God unwittingly, especially when we can see that a certain
project or church group is helping people to live a life of holiness and
charity with evangelical zeal.
The last line of
today’s first reading sums up the final criteria in our discernment of
genuine authority and the works of God, namely, that in all things, we can
say confidently, “Glory be to him who can keep you from falling and bring you
safe to his glorious presence, innocent and happy. To God, the only God,
who saves us through Jesus Christ our Lord, be the glory, majesty, authority
and power, which he had before time began, now and for ever. Amen.”
In other words, whether as leaders or followers, we must give glory to God for
He is the One who is the source of all authority and power. When
anyone begins to think consciously or unconsciously that he or she is the one
responsible for the success of the works undertaken, then that person is being
deceived by Evil One. The moment success gets into our head, we are
headed for a downfall. So let us follow Jesus in affirming that our
authority and power comes from His Father and that whatever we do, we want to
do it in union with Him, doing only His will and His alone.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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