20190209 SHARING IN
CHRIST’S PRIESTHOOD
09 FEBRUARY,
2019, Saturday, 4th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Hebrews 13:15-17,20-21 ©
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May God turn us all into whatever is
acceptable to himself through Jesus Christ
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Through Christ, let us offer God an
unending sacrifice of praise, a verbal sacrifice that is offered every time we
acknowledge his name. Keep doing good works and sharing your resources, for
these are sacrifices that please God.
Obey
your leaders and do as they tell you, because they must give an account of the
way they look after your souls; make this a joy for them to do, and not a
grief – you yourselves would be the losers. I pray that the God of peace,
who brought our Lord Jesus back from the dead to become the great Shepherd of
the sheep by the blood that sealed an eternal covenant, may make you ready to
do his will in any kind of good action; and turn us all into whatever is
acceptable to himself through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever,
Amen.
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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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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.
SHARING IN
CHRIST’S PRIESTHOOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ HEB 13:15-21; PS 23:1-6; MARK 6:30-34 ]
The letter to the
Hebrews focuses on the priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the High Priest of our
Faith. As the perfect High Priest, He offered the perfect sacrifice of
Himself for the atonement of our sins and opened the way for us to approach God
directly through Him. Reconciled to God, we are now asked to make the
priesthood of Christ our own. This is what the author of Hebrews is
suggesting to us, the ways we can participate in Christ’s sacrifice.
The first way to
exercise our priesthood is to offer the sacrifice of praise. “Through Christ, let us offer God an
unending sacrifice of praise, a verbal sacrifice that is offered every time we
acknowledge his name.” In other words, we are called to praise God,
acknowledging Him as our Lord and God. Praise is often a response to
someone who has done something well or have done us a favour. When that
happens, we offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving. But a sacrifice of
praise is given to God even when He does not act according to our will.
This means that we are called to praise God not just in good times but in bad
times. We sometimes cannot see where God is leading us, but we are called
to make an act of sacrifice by trusting Him. This is true especially when
our prayers for success in our studies or a project, healing of a terminal
illness, or a job that we are keen to get or a relationship that we want to
develop are not answered. This is where we are called to be like Job who
lost his property and the life of his children and yet praised God. He
said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there;
the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name
of the Lord.” (Job 1:21) King David
also prayed, “It is good for me that I was humbled, so that I might learn your
statutes.” (Ps 119:71) Can we
continue to praise God even when we suffer in life? This is what it means
to join Jesus in the sacrifice of praise. We must continue to honour His
name and praise God for His divine wisdom.
The second way to share
in Christ’s priesthood is to “keep doing good works” and sharing our resources,
“for these are sacrifices that please God.” Again doing good works and sharing our
talents, wealth and especially time, require sacrifice. Sometimes, it
involves personal sacrifices such as our time, energy and efforts.
This is particularly true when doing good works demands more than just doing
something for people, like giving money to charity or even helping the poor and
those in need, but making time to listen to people, to empathize with them and
to show our compassion for them in their illnesses, failures, broken
relationships, bereavement, etc.
At times, it calls us to
go beyond our duty. We are called to help even when we are tired and
deserve a reasonable rest.
This was the case of Jesus and the disciples. We read that “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.” That is why Jesus was not simply a shepherd but a
priest who sacrificed Himself, His rest and His time to be with the
people. He took pity on them. They were hungry for the Word
of God and for God. In such a situation, we are called to sacrifice our
own rest and convenience, to answer the needs of others. We cannot turn
away such people who are desperate to find God. A true shepherd and
priest will make himself available to his people.
The first two forms of
sacrifices demand much from us.
Certainly, it is not easy to offer a sacrifice of praise when things do not go
our way, or to continue to do good especially when we are tired. Many of
us feel tired and burdened carrying our own cross in daily life, besides the
crosses of others. That is why bishops and priests are tired looking
after the parishioners because of the many demands made on them. Parents
are tired having to perform well in their jobs and also looking after their
young children or wayward adolescents or elderly parents. Yet, this is
the concrete way of sharing in Christ’s priesthood because the Lord says, “If any
want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross
daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will
lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” (Lk 9:23f)
But sharing in Christ’s
priesthood does not stop here. It goes further by rendering obedience to
our leaders. The author wrote,
“Obey your leaders and do as they tell you; make this a joy for them to do, and
not a grief – you yourselves would be the losers.” Obedience is an
even greater sacrifice than doing good and giving ourselves to others.
Samuel said to Saul who was disobedient to the Lord. “Has the Lord as great
delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obedience to the voice of the
Lord? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of
rams. For rebellion is no less a sin than divination, and stubbornness is like
iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also
rejected you from being king.” (1 Sm 15:22f)
Many of us are not
obedient to our leaders. We continue the sin of Adam in us, the sin of
pride manifested in rebellion. There is a deep resentment against authority. We
always feel that we know better and we are right and authority is wrong.
By so doing, we replace the authority above with us with our own
authority. We set ourselves as the authority instead and supplant the
appointed leaders. The irony is that whilst we do not accept authority
above us, we demand our subordinates to submit to our authority! This is
so hypocritical because we are practising double standards. If we cannot
accept authority, we have lost the authority to command obedience from our
subordinates. This was the cause of the division in the Christian
Church. The moment the Protestants rejected the authority of the Pope and
set up their own authority, they lost their authority to claim authority over others.
Thus, the Christian church today is divided into many denominations because all
are claiming to be the right authority.
That is why those who
desire to command must first obey! Jesus was obedient to the Father’s
will unto death.
His whole life was to do the will of God. Many times in the gospel, Jesus
made it clear that He had come not to do His will but the will of His Father.
“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.”
(Jn 4:34) In the Garden of Gethesmane, the Lord
said, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will
but yours be done.” (Lk 22:42) And on the
cross, He said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Lk 23:46) Indeed, unless we follow Jesus in
submitting to the Father’s will as expressed in legitimate authority, leaders
appointed by God, we have lost our moral authority to demand that others obey
us.
Of course, those in
authority must be clear that they are not working for their own vested
interests. They are
accountable to God, as the author warns us “because they must give an account
of the way they look after your souls.” Every leader is answerable not
just to those in charge of him but ultimately to God. Leaders must be
clear that they are not doing things simply to assert their authority, to protect
their position and power, for their security and glory, for their comfort and
ego. Unless a leader is a true shepherd who sacrifices his interests and
his convenience, his wealth and time for others, he does not deserve
respect. A leader must be like Jesus the Good Shepherd who puts the needs
of His people before His own and even that of His apostles. So before a
leader condemns those who do not follow him, he also must search himself
whether he is working for them, their good or for himself.
Only in this way can we
become like Jesus the Great Shepherd of the sheep and also our High Priest. In other words, we must become
servant leaders, shepherds who are also priests, offering our lives as a ransom
for many, to serve and not to be served. Let this be our prayer as
well. “I pray that the God of peace, who brought our Lord Jesus back from
the dead to become the great Shepherd of the sheep by the blood that sealed an
eternal covenant, may make you ready to do his will in any kind of good action;
and turn us all into whatever is acceptable to himself through Jesus Christ, to
whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen.” In all that we do, let us seek to
do His will and not ours, doing good and making ourselves acceptable to God by
glorifying Him in all that we say and do.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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