20190617
CREDIBLE
SERVANTS OF GOD
17 JUNE, 2019,
Monday, 11th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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2 Corinthians 6:1-10 ©
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How we prove that we are God's servants
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As his fellow workers, we beg you once
again not to neglect the grace of God that you have received. For he says: At
the favourable time, I have listened to you; on the day of salvation I came to
your help. Well, now is the favourable time; this is the day of
salvation.
We
do nothing that people might object to, so as not to bring discredit on our
function as God’s servants. Instead, we prove we are servants of God by great
fortitude in times of suffering: in times of hardship and distress; when we are
flogged, or sent to prison, or mobbed; labouring, sleepless, starving. We prove
we are God’s servants by our purity, knowledge, patience and kindness; by a
spirit of holiness, by a love free from affectation; by the word of truth and
by the power of God; by being armed with the weapons of righteousness in the
right hand and in the left, prepared for honour or disgrace, for blame or
praise; taken for impostors while we are genuine; obscure yet famous; said to
be dying and here are we alive; rumoured to be executed before we are
sentenced; thought most miserable and yet we are always rejoicing; taken for
paupers though we make others rich, for people having nothing though we have
everything.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 97(98):1-4 ©
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The Lord has made known
his salvation.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
The Lord has made known
his salvation.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the
nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
The Lord has made known
his salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
The Lord has made known
his salvation.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn14:23
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Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Ps118:105
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is a lamp for my steps
and a light for my path.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 5:38-42 ©
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Offer the wicked man no resistance
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Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You have
learnt how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I
say this to you: offer the wicked man no resistance. On the contrary, if anyone
hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if a man takes you to
law and would have your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone
orders you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks, and
if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.’
CREDIBLE
SERVANTS OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 2 Cor 6:1-10; Ps 98:1-4; Mt 5:38-42 ]
The proclamation of the
gospel is more than just preaching and performing signs and wonders. St. Paul was a great apostle, not only
because of his preaching, or even his healing miracles, but because of the way
he lived his life. Indeed, what we need today are not teachers but
witnesses. Who are the witnesses? They are those who have
encountered the Lord and go on to live out the gospel in their lives.
If the Church has lost
her credibility, it is because of the scandals in the Church, particularly
those caused byits shepherds –
pedophilia, sexual impropriety, homosexuality, lavish lifestyles, and sometimes
poor witnessing in their ministry, especially when they are authoritarian,
abusive, callous in their words and actions, displaying anything but the mercy
and love of God. Rather than conducting themselves as servant leaders, they
make use of people for their ambition and personal gain. They are
discriminating, attending to the rich and influential but are often rude and
unavailable when called upon to render their services to the ordinary
parishioner. When leaders lack honesty and integrity, then it is
difficult to give them our complete trust. Without trust, a leader cannot
lead his people.
This is true of
Catholics as well. How often have we put off people by the way we behave
in the office and in the church! In
the office, we show ourselves to be lacking in compassion for our
subordinates. We shout and scream at our fellow colleagues and are
intolerant of their mistakes. We are irresponsible in our work, are
calculating and demanding. We are competitive, political, gossip and
backbite. In church, we are selfish and self-centered. We ask
a lot from the church but are scrooch-like when it comes to contributing our
time or money. We are selfish, reserving places for our loved ones and
will not give up our place to the elderly and the sick. We put our bags and
haversacks on the benches when many are without seats. We are inconsiderate
in the way we park our cars – taking our time to remove them after the service
is over, never mind that others are prevented from moving off because we are
obstructing them; we even park our cars in front of other peoples’ gates
so that they are impeded from entering and leaving their houses.
As a result, we cannot
blame those who have left the Church, or are skeptical of the Church because
they have not received the grace of God through us. On the contrary, we ourselves have
received the grace of God in vain. This is what St Paul is urging
us. “As God’s fellow workers we beg you once again not to neglect the
grace of God that you have received. For he says: At the favourable
time, I have listened to you; on the day of salvation I came to your
help. Well, now is the favourable time; this is the day of
salvation.” The grace of God which we receive must transform us and make
us live a life that differentiates us from the people of the world. If
others are living a more virtuous life than us, then our faith becomes a
contradiction.
That was why St Paul led
by example. He
said, “We do nothing that people might object to, so as not to bring discredit
on our function as God’s servants.” He was conscious that because he was
an ambassador of Christ, he had to be a good witness of our Lord.
How did he do it?
Firstly, by being an
exemplar of suffering for the sake of others. “Instead, we prove we are servants
of God by great fortitude in times of suffering: in times of hardship and
distress; when we are flogged, or sent to prison, or mobbed; labouring,
sleepless, starving.” St Paul led the way in his willingness to suffer
for the gospel. How many of us can come to his level of sacrifice?
Today, even priests and religious are not willing to sacrifice their creature
comforts, much less to suffer for Him. What is lacking today?
We no longer have real missionaries, unlike in the olden days when they
willingly left their homeland and their loved ones in order to bring the gospel
to the ends of the earth and lived like the people in simplicity and
poverty. Today, our lifestyle as priests and religious no longer reflect
Christ’s life of simplicity. Also, not many of us are willing to make real
sacrifices in the service of the people of God. Are we God’s servants or
do we expect to be served and respected?
Secondly, he lived a
life of holiness.
He said, “We prove we are God’s servants by our purity, knowledge, patience and
kindness; by a spirit of holiness, by a love free from affection; by the word
of truth and by the power of God.” Living a life of holiness is to
manifest the gifts of the Holy Spirit. By our purity of heart and
mind, we serve the Lord and His people without conditions and with sincerity
and truth. As servants of God, we need to acquire the spirit of holiness,
knowledge, patience and kindness. Again, what is lacking in us is
sensitivity and patience with those who are serving with us, or those whom we
are serving. Quite often, we lose our temper and lack compassion in
dealing with those who are weak.
Thirdly, a servant of
Christ must live in equanimity.
“By being armed with the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the
left, prepared for honour or disgrace, for blame or praise; taken for impostors
while we are genuine; obscure yet famous; said to be dying and here are we
alive; rumoured to be executed before we are sentenced; thought most miserable
and yet we are always rejoicing; taken for paupers though we make others rich,
for people having nothing though we have everything.” When we are
no longer concerned about praise or blame, or what people say or think about
us, we can then act from within, from our inner convictions and not to impress
people. When we know ourselves and who we are in Christ, we will no
longer be too worried about what the world thinks of us. Many of us are
controlled by the world and how it feels about us, especially on social
media. What we should be concerned with is what God thinks of us and what
we think about ourselves.
Fourthly, a servant of
Christ must always be forgiving.
We must not retaliate against our enemies and people who are difficult and
demanding. Jesus said to His disciples: “You have learnt how it was
said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer the
wicked man no resistance. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the
right cheek, offer him the other as well.” We cannot count ourselves as
Christ’s servant if we lack forgiveness and generosity of heart. When
priests and religious and lay leaders carry lots of anger and vindictiveness in
their heart, they cannot be healers of souls and reconcile sinners with
God. That is why St Peter exhorts us, “For it is a credit to you if,
being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you
endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you
endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s
approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also
suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his
steps.” (1 Pt 2:19-21)
Finally, a servant of
Christ must always go beyond the call of duty and never be calculative in
giving his time and resources for the service of the Kingdom. “If a man takes you to law and would
have your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone orders
you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks, and
if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.” Indeed, we must be
generous and show ourselves to be ready to give and not count the cost.
It is because the Church has been generous to the poor, providing free service,
food, money, education and medical help that people have to come believe in the
Lord because the Church is credible by her works of love and mercy. Today,
there is a danger that some churches are too calculative with those who
approach them for help, so much so that they feel that the Church is no longer
compassionate and merciful.
Indeed, only by living a
life that is different from that of the world can we show ourselves to be true
servants of God.
In this way, others will come to see the salvation of our God as the psalmist
says. “The Lord has made known his salvation; has shown his justice to
the nations. He has remembered his truth and love for the house of
Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth, ring out your joy.” This was certainly
the case of the early disciples and missionaries who gave up their lives for
the gospel. They took the evangelical vows of poverty, obedience and
chastity; and lived them faithfully. Today, many take but no longer observe
them. If we want to recover our credibility, then we need to cooperate
with God’s grace in living a prophetic gospel life.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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