20190703
LONELY CATHOLICS ARE AT RISK
03 JULY, 2019, Wednesday, St Thomas, Apostle
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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EPH 2:19-22
19 So then you are no
longer dstrangers and aliens,4 but you are efellow citizens with the saints and fmembers of the household of God, 20 gbuilt on the foundation of the hapostles and prophets, iChrist Jesus himself being jthe cornerstone, 21 kin whom the whole structure, being joined
together, grows into la holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him myou also are being built together ninto a dwelling place for God by5 the Spirit.
Gospel : John 20:24-29
24 Now oThomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin,4 was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So
the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, p“Unless
I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and
place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
26 Eight days later, his
disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. qAlthough the doors were
locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, q“Peace
be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, r“Put
your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not
disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, s“My
Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said
to him, “Have
you believed because you have seen me? tBlessed
are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
LONELY
CATHOLICS ARE AT RISK
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EPH
2:19-22; JN 20:24-29]
The Catholic
Church as a Church is the largest Christian Church in the world. We have more
than a billion members. In Singapore, as Church, we are also the
largest in terms of numbers and presence. Is this a boon or a bane?
Our community is big. Our churches are packed to the brim every weekend
even when many have more than six services. The parishes seem to be
vibrant with activities. But in truth, hardly 10% of our Catholics are
really involved in the parishes.
The stark
reality is that many of our Catholics are lonely Catholics. They hardly know the
priests of the parish or even have a chance to speak to them. Because the
services are packed and are held close to each other, they need to leave the
church immediately after mass. There is no fellowship or communion with
other Catholics. The celebration of the Eucharist is reduced to a ritual
rather than a celebration of the Church as the Body of Christ. It becomes
an individualistic and personal devotion rather than the worship of the whole
Church.
Lonely
Catholics are at risk. When they do not know other Catholics, their faith will not
last. Like St Thomas, he lost his faith in Christ because he withdrew
from the rest of the apostles. He must have been very sad at the death of
his master whom he was willing to go up to Jerusalem to fight for. He was
the one who told Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we
know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the
truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. If
you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him
and have seen him.” (Jn 14:5-7) Many
Catholics too are confused about their faith. With so much conflicting
information in the mass media and the attack on the Catholic teachings, they do
not know what is right or wrong anymore. This is particularly so when
they are challenged by those who disagree with our moral and doctrinal
teachings.
Otherwise, in
times of bereavement or sickness or personal, family or work problems, many
Catholics are left alone to fend for themselves. Inadvertently, with
no Catholic friends to support them, they have to turn to those of other
faiths, or no faith, to seek advice and consolation. When we are going
through difficult times like St Thomas who was disillusioned, we become easy
prey to others who can mislead us. Even if not, we would have lost our faith
in God because He appears to be indifferent to our suffering. Like St
Thomas, we would honestly say, “Unless I see the holes that the nails made in
his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put
my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.” In other words, unless
I see that this God is real, how can I believe?
Consequently,
today we must learn the lesson of St Thomas. It is not because God is not
real or cannot be seen, it is because we are absent. Christ is
present when the Christian community gathers, as in the celebration of the
Eucharist or when we are at prayer. Jesus said, “For where two or
three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Mt 18:20) Thomas was not with the
community and hence when Christ appeared to the disciples, he missed
encountering Him. It was only when he joined the community the next time
that he could see the Risen Lord. This is what Jesus meant when He
remarked, “Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Unlike
Thomas, we have not seen the Risen Lord but we believe because we have seen Him
in His body the Church. This is true as well in the early Church.
Many were converted because they saw the Christians loving and caring for each
other. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love
for one another.” (Jn 13:35)
The message of
today’s scripture readings is clear. The Risen Christ is seen
today in the Christian community, which is the Body of Christ. That
is why the Church is called the Sacrament of Christ. The Risen
Christ is both head and body. The Church is the body of Christ. So
if we want to see the Risen Lord today, we must encounter Him in the Church,
the body of Christ. This is what St Paul wrote in the first
reading. He said, “You are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are
citizens like all the saints, and part of God’s household. You are part of a
building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ
Jesus himself for its main cornerstone.” We are all members of God’s
family. No Catholic is alone. We are baptized into a
community. We are not strangers or aliens in this household. All of
us are brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of our heavenly Father.
Hence, no Catholic can live his or her faith isolated from the rest of the
community.
Secondly, our
faith is dependent on the faith of the apostles and of the Church. Faith, although
personal, is not individual. Our faith is communitarian. Faith is
imparted through the apostles who gave us the foundation of our faith in Christ
as they were the first direct witnesses. This apostolic faith is
preserved in the Church by the successors of the apostles, namely, the Pope and
the Bishops. By staying away from the Church, our faith will not be in
continuity with the faith of the apostles. It would be our own imagination
and creation. Our faith must always be in line with the apostolic faith
if we want to be sure that we worship and know the right Christ. St Paul
reminds us, “As every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy
temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God
lives, in the Spirit.”
For this reason,
it is important that Catholics must always come together to pray, to
worship and to share the Word of God like the early Church. “And
day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes,
they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having
favor with all the people” (Acts 2:46) We need to
belong to the larger community of Catholics on Sundays during the Eucharistic
celebration but we also need to belong to a basic Christian community as well
so that we can find not just fraternal and moral support for our faith.
It is also an occasion to discuss and form each other in faith as we
read, pray and reflect on the Word of God together. Above all, through
spiritual sharing of mind and heart, we will also be more united in love, care
and concern for each other. Only in the presence of a loving community
that accepts us and cares for us, is the Risen Christ seen today.
Catholics
must form themselves into small communities, whether at the workplace, in
offices, in church or at home. They must come together weekly to pray and share the Word of
God together. This explains why the author of the letter to the Hebrews
urges the persecuted Christians saying, “Let us hold fast the confession of our
hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful; and let us consider how
to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together,
as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you
see the Day drawing near.” (Heb 10: 23-25) We cannot blame Catholics
from straying from the faith because they are often alone, misguided and
ill-informed. They lack the support of the mother Church. It is our
duty as brothers and sisters of the family of God to encourage such small
Christian communities to be formed.
Let us be
honest like St Thomas who was true to himself. He refused to believe
unless he saw. We cannot be deceiving ourselves as true believers in the
Lord by being contented with a routine and nominal faith. A faith that is
not alive and evangelical is a dying faith. The responsorial psalm tells
us to “Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News”, about how “strong is
his love for us; he is faithful forever.” Only with a discerning and
growing faith rooted in the community, can we also make the leap of faith of St
Thomas who, upon seeing the marks of the Risen Lord, came to faith that He is
God. St Thomas too needed to have faith to proclaim Jesus as “my Lord and my
God”, for seeing the Risen Christ is no indication that He is God.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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