20170722
A CHURCH ON MISSION IN FOSTERING UNITY
22 JULY, 2018, Sunday, 16th Week,
Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Jeremiah 23:1-6 ©
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I will gather together the remnant of my flock and raise up
shepherds for them
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‘Doom for the shepherds who allow the flock of my pasture to be
destroyed and scattered – it is the Lord who speaks! This, therefore, is
what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds in charge of my
people: You have let my flock be scattered and go wandering and have not taken
care of them.
Right, I
will take care of you for your misdeeds – it is the Lord who speaks! But
the remnant of my flock I myself will gather from all the countries where I
have dispersed them, and will bring them back to their pastures: they shall be
fruitful and increase in numbers. I will raise up shepherds to look after them
and pasture them; no fear, no terror for them any more; not one shall be
lost – it is the Lord who speaks!
‘See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks –
when I will raise a virtuous Branch for David,
who will reign as true king and be wise,
practising honesty and integrity in the land.
In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel dwell in confidence.
And this is the name he will be called:
The-Lord-our-integrity.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 22(23) ©
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The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I
shall want.
The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures
where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me,
to revive my drooping spirit.
The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I
shall want.
He guides me along the right path;
he is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness
no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your staff;
with these you give me comfort.
The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I
shall want.
You have prepared a banquet for me
in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil;
my cup is overflowing.
The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I
shall want.
Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me
all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
for ever and ever.
The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I
shall want.
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Second reading
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Ephesians 2:13-18 ©
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Christ Jesus is the peace between us
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In Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far apart from us have
been brought very close, by the blood of Christ. For he is the peace between
us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to
keep them apart, actually destroying in his own person the hostility caused by
the rules and decrees of the Law. This was to create one single New Man in
himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the cross, to
unite them both in a single Body and reconcile them with God: in his own person
he killed the hostility. Later he came to bring the good news of peace, peace to you who were far away and
peace to those who were near at hand. Through
him, both of us have in the one Spirit our way to come to the Father.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn10:27
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 6:30-34 ©
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They were like sheep without a shepherd
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The apostles rejoined Jesus and told him all they had done and
taught. Then he said to them, ‘You must come away to some lonely place all by
yourselves and rest for a while’; for there were so many coming and going that
the apostles had no time even to eat. So they went off in a boat to a lonely
place where they could be by themselves. But people saw them going, and many
could guess where; and from every town they all hurried to the place on foot
and reached it before them. So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and
he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he
set himself to teach them at some length.
A CHURCH ON MISSION IN FOSTERING UNITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Jer 23:1-6; Ps 23:1-6; Eph 2:13-18; Mark 6:30-34 ]
In the first
reading from the prophet Jeremiah, we read of the indictment against the
shepherds of Israel. The kings were not looking after the people’s interests.
They were corrupt and irresponsible. Hence the Lord warned the shepherds, “Doom
for the shepherds who allow the flock of my pasture to be destroyed and
scattered. You have let my flock be scattered and go wandering and
have not taken care of them.” Indeed, today, we need leaders who
can unite and guide our people to the right pasture. The world is much
divided and our peoples too. We are divided not just politically, but
the economic divide between the rich and the poor are widening. We are
also facing a cultural and religious divide, as we see in the tensions between
the conservatives and the liberals.
Most of all,
this disunity begins with the family, which is being threatened by attempts to
redefine marriage and the family institution. When married couples no longer have a
safe haven to allow their marriage to be purified and strengthened over time,
their marriage are being built on sand. When children no longer have
stable families and loving parents to raise them up, they grow up insecure,
wounded, resentful and incapable of holding on to a mature and faithful, loving
relationship in future.
Fostering
unity is one of the most important tasks of a leader. However, this
unity cannot be a false unity based on superficial compromises. This is
the temptation of the world today. We are building a unity not based on
strong foundation that can withstand the changing circumstances of our times,
values that are eternally valid to every human person. Such values
include integrity, honesty, truth, love, peace, joy, fidelity, justice,
equality, compassion, freedom, dignity of the human being and the intrinsic
value of human life from the beginning of conception until the end. When
values are based on relativism, subjectivism and pragmatism, we can no longer
found any real unity since it is based not on some objective truth but personal
preferences.
In the second
reading, our Lord shows leaders the way to foster unity. The whole
mission of Christ on earth was to reconcile man with God and man with man.
As the Good Shepherd, He was to fulfill the promise of God to the
people of Israel as prophesied through Jeremiah and Ezekiel. This
shepherd, as the Lord said, will gather all of them back as one. “But the
remnant of my flock I myself will gather from all the countries where I have
dispersed them, and will bring them back to their pastures.” After the
exile, the Lord would gather His people scattered over the nations and bring
them back to Israel. This was to be fulfilled in Christ Jesus who was the
promised Messiah.
But not only
Israel, the Lord wants to reunite humanity into one people, one family of God
in His Spirit. This is what St Paul envisaged for the Church. “In
Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very
close, by the blood of Christ.” The barrier between the Jews and the
Gentiles was removed by Christ’s death because by His death, we are all
reconciled with God. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, all of
us are united in Him, sharing in the one Spirit given to all. “Through
him, both of us have in the one Spirit our way to come to the Father.”
Secondly,
building unity requires leaders to be honest and have integrity. “See, the days are
coming when I will raise a virtuous Branch for David, who will reign as true
king and be wise, practising honesty and integrity in the land.” Without
living a life based on truth and love, without living a life of integrity between
what we say and what we do, we cannot be instruments of unity.
People will lose trust in us. Indeed, credibility in leaders is what is
lacking in the world today because many leaders lack integrity. What they
say in public is not how they live their lives. Many leaders are corrupt,
greedy, unscrupulous, seek to enrich themselves and are power hungry.
Thirdly,
fostering unity requires a compassionate heart for each other. In the gospel, Jesus invited
His apostles whom He sent out on mission to take a break from their busy and
hectic ministry. “You must come away to some lonely place all by
yourselves and rest for a while’; for there were so many coming and going that
the apostles had no time even to eat.” Jesus showed His compassion for
His disciples who worked hard in the ministry, attending to the needs of the
people who were hungry for the Word of God and to be touched and healed by the
mercy of God. It was therefore right that the disciples took a rest so
that they could be recharged with the love of God in solitude, prayer and
fellowship.
Yet,
sometimes, as shepherds of Christ, we need to go beyond ourselves when there is
a greater need, as in the case of Jesus. We read that “as he stepped ashore
he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them because they were like sheep
without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some
length.” A compassionate heart is never calculative. There
will be times when we are asked to stretch beyond ourselves to reach out to
those in need, to give guidance and help to those in need. Jesus, whilst
recognizing the disciples’ need for much rest, was willing to compromise His
right to attend to those who were so desperately seeking God’s Word and healing
grace. He had no heart to turn them away.
But what is
even more significant in today’s gospel is that this mission of restoring unity
in humanity is an ongoing mission. As leaders wherever we are, in Church, in
community, in our offices and in our homes, there is no rest, so to speak, in
fostering unity. Indeed, the disciples thought that they could rest after
a long journey in mission, only to find that there was no rest in the mission
of proclaiming the Good news. This mission of bringing unity and
peace to humanity is always ongoing, because of the sins and selfishness of
man. The unity among peoples is fragile and can be broken any time.
We need constant vigilance and effort to build unity among all men, whether in
our own family, among ourselves as a Christian community, among peoples of
different religions in inter-religious dialogue and among peoples of different
cultures.
However, this
does not mean that we are forever working in the apostolate without making time
for prayer and solitude. Taking a rest is more than just physical rest, which is
included. But the rest that Jesus wants us to take is to make time to be
with Him so that we can find inner peace and solitude in the work that we
do. We should not separate prayer and solitude from our apostolic
work. Praying itself is part of this apostolic work that we do. In
fact, it is an essential part of our apostolic work. Without first being
connected with God, finding our joy and strength in Him, there is no good news
to proclaim except an ideology and an ambition to accomplish. But being
involved in the apostolic work is never done in a hurry, haste or with
irritation, but with calmness and peace of mind and joy in our hearts.
Indeed, the
individual must first be established in unity before he or she can be an agent
of unity for others. He or she must first live an integrated life, which means
caring for his or her body, soul and spirit. Unless he learns to take
care of his body and spirit, he will find himself living a fragmented
life. What he says or believes, contradict what he does. Indeed, some
leaders are easily agitated, anxious and ambitious. Such leaders appear
to be working from their insecurity and their needs rather than out of their
overflowing joy and love for those whom they are serving. When we look at
Jesus and the great saints, especially St Teresa of Calcutta, do we see them
feeling anxious, edgy or irritable when they serve and reach out to the people
of God? What we see in them in calmness, peace and joy exuding from their
hearts. Indeed, they go forth with joy, a missionary joy inspired by the
Holy Spirit. The joy of Jesus sprang from His communion with the Father,
and the joy of Christian missionaries from their union with Christ and their
fellow Christians.
Once we are
integrated, we must then find communion with others as well. We are never
asked to be in the mission alone. We are called to be with each other and for each
other. Jesus sent His disciples out in mission two by two, and
formed the college of apostles so that they could act together as His
body. Thus, we must first be in communion with each other before we can
become agents of communion in the world. We are called to be a community
of missionary disciples the way Jesus gathered the disciples together to share
and support each other in their spiritual life and in their apostolic work. It
is only when we have an evangelizing community that is supportive of each
other, that we are able to bear fruits. Indeed, when members of religious
communities and church organizations care for each other, stand by and support
each other, they truly become an evangelizing community because the joy they
have will overflow, reaching out to others. Such apostolic service is
pure love and joy, without anxiety, impatience and ambition.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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