20180727
SHEPHERDING A REBELLIOUS AND WEAK FLOCK OF GOD
27 JULY, 2018, Friday, 16th Week,
Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Jeremiah 3:14-17 ©
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Come back, my disloyal children
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Come back, disloyal children – it is the Lord who
speaks – for I alone am your Master. I will take one from a town, two from
a clan, and bring you to Zion. I will give you shepherds after my own heart,
and these shall feed you on knowledge and discretion. And when you have
increased and become many in the land, then – it is the Lord who
speaks – no one will ever say again: Where is the ark of the covenant of
the Lord? There will be no thought of it, no memory of it, no regret for it, no
making of another. When that time comes, Jerusalem shall be called: The Throne
of the Lord; all the nations will gather there in the name of the Lord and will
no longer follow the dictates of their own stubborn hearts.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Jeremiah 31:10-13 ©
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The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his
flock.
O nations, hear the word of the Lord,
proclaim it to the far-off coasts.
Say: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him
and guard him as a shepherd guards his flock.’
The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his
flock.
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,
has saved him from an overpowering hand.
They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion,
they will stream to the blessings of the Lord.
The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his
flock.
Then the young girls will rejoice and dance,
the men, young and old, will be glad.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console them, give gladness for grief.
The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his
flock.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jm1:21
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Accept and submit to the word
which has been planted in you
and can save your souls.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.Lk8:15
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are those who,
with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves
and yield a harvest through their perseverance.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 13:18-23 ©
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The man who hears the word and understands it yields a rich
harvest
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Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You are to hear the parable of the
sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the
evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the man who
received the seed on the edge of the path. The one who received it on patches
of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But he
has no root in him, he does not last; let some trial come, or some persecution
on account of the word, and he falls away at once. The one who received the
seed in thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this world and
the lure of riches choke the word and so he produces nothing. And the one who
received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it;
he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty,
now thirty.’
SHEPHERDING A REBELLIOUS AND WEAK FLOCK OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ JER 3:14-17; JER 31:10-13; MT 13:18-23 ]
In the first
reading, the Prophet Jeremiah was sent to call the exiles into repentance so
that they could return to their homeland and rebuild their nation. “Come back, disloyal
children – it is the Lord who speaks – for I alone am your Master. I will
take one from a town, two from a clan, and bring you to Zion.” After the
punishments, the Lord sought to bring them back so that once again, “Jerusalem
shall be called: The Throne of the Lord; all the nations will gather there in
the name of the Lord and will no longer follow the dictates of their stubborn
hearts.”
This is the
same appeal of the Lord to all of us who are people of the New Covenant. The
truth is that the Christian Community is not much different from the Chosen
People of the Old Testament. In the parable of the Sower, the Lord spoke of
the four categories of believers. They are present in every Christian
community because the Christian community comprises believers at different
levels of growth and maturity of faith. Not all members have strong and
mature faith.
There are
members, as the Lord said, where the seeds “fell along the path, and the birds
came and ate it up.” (Mt 13:4) These are those “who hear the word of the
kingdom without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown
in his heart.” Indeed, we have many members of the Church who are ill
formed in their faith. They do not take the trouble to read the
scriptures or to deepen their understanding of the Church’s doctrinal and moral
teachings. They just follow the Sunday Eucharist without much
understanding of what is going on. They would practice the faith in a
robotic and superstitious manner. They lack real conviction,
understanding and appreciation of their faith, the liturgy and Catholic
beliefs. Consequently, when they are challenged in their faith by members
of other religions or secularists, they listen to their opinions
attentively. Knowing only half the truth, they are easily won over by
them simply because they do not know enough of their faith to properly discern
the truth of what others say.
The second
group of believers in the Church are those where the word of God falls on rocky
ground, “where
it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was
shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they
withered because they had no root.” (Mt 13:5f)
Indeed, the Lord says, “The one who received it on patches of rock is the man
who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But he has no root
in him, he does not last; let some trial come, or some persecution on account
of the word, and he falls away at once.”
This group of
believers welcomes the Word of God with joy and enthusiasm.
Unfortunately, they do not follow up on their faith. Many newly baptized
Catholics are full of zeal after baptism, but the zeal dies quickly because
they do not have programs to sustain them in their ongoing formation.
This is true also for those who attend retreats. After the retreat, they
feel spiritually very high. They want to convert the whole world.
But when they meet trials in living out their faith they become disillusioned
and angry with God. When they meet with rejection, encounter misunderstandings
and frictions in community service, or hurt by the harsh words and uncharitable
actions of fellow Catholics, especially Church leaders and priests, they leave
the ministry and finally they leave the Church. Indeed, they are not mature
enough to handle the trials of the apostolate because they are still new.
Then we have
the third group of believers. They are active in Church and even involved
in the work of formation, but they are easily tempted by the world. They fall into
temptations of the flesh, the world and Satan. These are the seeds that
“fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.” (Mt 13:7)
The Lord explained, “The one who received the seed on thorns is the man who
hears the word, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches choke the
word and so he produces nothing.” Indeed, many good Catholics are so
caught up by the struggles of daily life – finance and household expenses,
children’s education, sickness, care of the elderly, marriage woes and stress
at work place and worst of all, infighting among members of the Catholic
community. Sometimes, the temptation comes subtly, in the unconscious
desire for power, glory, recognition even when serving in the Church.
Pope Francis
has warned us again and again of the temptation to spiritual worldliness. Before he was elected
Pope, he was asked at an interview in 2007 what he thought would be the worst
thing that could happen to the Church. His response was, “It is what De Lubac
calls ‘spiritual worldliness’. It is the greatest danger for the Church, for
us, who are in the Church. ‘It is worse’, says De Lubac, ‘more disastrous than
the infamous leprosy that disfigured the dearly beloved Bride at the time of
the libertine popes’. Spiritual worldliness is putting oneself at the center.
It is what Jesus saw going on among the Pharisees: ‘… You who glorify
yourselves. Who give glory to yourselves, the ones to the others?’”
How, then, as
good shepherds after the heart of Christ, can we help these three groups of
believers who are struggling in their faith life? The Lord, through prophet
Jeremiah, said, “I will give you shepherds after my own heart, and these shall
feed you on knowledge and discretion.” The key is knowledge and
wisdom. What our people need to grow in their faith and remain in the
fold is to acquire knowledge of their faith and prudence in living out their
Christian life.
For those seeds
that fall on the pathway, the way to help them is to give them formation.
What our Catholics need is solid formation, especially on the scriptures and
doctrines. If many stray from the faith, it is because of ignorance or
knowledge of half-truths, which is worse than lies. We need good teachers
and preachers to inspire faith and to help our Catholics to become interested
in forming their faith both intellectually and spiritually.
Unfortunately, we lack good teachers and preachers. That is why we cannot
be merely dependent on priests to do this work. We need to empower our
laity to take up full time ministry or even part time in teaching the faith and
preaching the Word of God and conducting retreats and recollections.
For those
seeds that fall on rocky ground, we need to stress and provide opportunities to
grow in faith. Catholics must be convinced that faith formation is not
just 10 years of catechism for children and young people, or nine months of
catechesis in RCIA. Faith formation is an ongoing process. We never
stop learning about our faith and deepening our knowledge and appreciation of
the Word of God. Catholics must make time to grow in their faith by
attending seminars, courses and programs. If they are not able to find
time, at least they must do some study on their own and discuss with friends so
that their faith could deepen. Otherwise, our enthusiasm will not last in
the face of challenges in Christian life.
Thirdly, for
seeds that fall among the thorns, we need to replace the thorns of life with
the ambience of a loving community. We are influenced either by the world or by the Christian
community. If we are easily tempted by the world and by the flesh,
it is because we do not belong to the Christian community. Unless we are
immersed in the life of our Christian brothers and sisters, we will not be able
to fight against the secularist, materialistic and individualistic values of
the world. Belonging to some Catholic circles or cell groups is the best
safeguard. Through faith sharing and fellowship, we will be strong
against temptations.
In the final
analysis, we can provide all the formation, ongoing formation and even the
Christian community’s support, but it all depends on our disposition. This is ultimately the
work of grace. This is what the Lord meant when He remarked, “And the one
who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and
understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a
hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.” God’s grace works in mysterious ways
and beyond human planning. We can only cooperate with the work of
grace. However, God will lead us to Him; open our hearts and minds to
receive Him.
Hence, after
doing all that we have done to help our fellow Catholics grow in faith, the
most important thing is to trust in the primacy of grace. This means that we
need to pray for God’s grace and divine assistance. As for the fruits, we
can only leave to God to grant to us as He sees fit. With the psalmist we say,
“For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, has saved him from an overpowering hand. They
will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion, they will stream to the blessings of
the Lord. Then the young girls will rejoice and dance, the men, young and old,
will be glad. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will console them, give
gladness for grief.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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