20191001
EVANGELIZING
BY ATTRACTION
01 OCTOBER,
2019, Tuesday, St Therese of the Child Jesus
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First reading
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Isaiah 66:10-14 ©
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Rejoice, Jerusalem,
be glad for her, all you who love her!
Rejoice, rejoice for her,
all you who mourned her!
That you may be suckled, filled,
from her consoling breast,
that you may savour with delight
her glorious breasts.
For thus says the Lord:
Now towards her I send flowing
peace, like a river,
and like a stream in spate
the glory of the nations.
At her breast will her nurslings be
carried
and fondled in her lap.
Like a son comforted by his mother
will I comfort you.
And by Jerusalem you will be comforted.
At the sight your heart will rejoice,
and your bones flourish like the grass.
To his servants the Lord will reveal his
hand.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 130(131) ©
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Keep my soul in peace
before you, O Lord.
O Lord, my heart is not proud
nor haughty my eyes.
I have not gone after things too great
nor marvels beyond me.
Keep my soul in peace
before you, O Lord.
Truly I have set my soul
in silence and peace.
A weaned child on its mother’s breast,
even so is my soul.
Keep my soul in peace
before you, O Lord.
O Israel, hope in the Lord
both now and forever.
Keep my soul in peace
before you, O Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt11:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 18:1-4 ©
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The disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ So he called a little child to him
and set the child in front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless
you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’
EVANGELIZING BY
ATTRACTION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Is 66:10-14; Ps 131; 1 Cor 13:4-13; Mt 18:1-5 ]
In 1927, Pope Pius XI
declared St Therese the special patron saint of men and women
missionaries. She
was given the same title as was conferred on St Francis Xavier, with all the
rights and privileges of the title, especially with regard to liturgical
devotion. The month of October is not just a month dedicated to Our Lady
of the Holy Rosary but also to the theme on Mission. Indeed, her feast
day, which is celebrated on 1stOctober, commences the month the
Church prays for mission. How could a young girl who entered the convent at the
age of 15 and died at the age of 24 teach the world how the work of mission
should be done when she never even left the convent?
She teaches us that
evangelization is made possible when we are attractive. Indeed, the work of evangelization
is not proselytization, which is making converts through indoctrination or
material bribery, or worst still, by force and coercion. If the Church
were to draw people to Christ, we must be attractive and beautiful for the
world. This was what Christ said in the gospel, “Let your light shine
before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your
Father in heaven.” (Mt 5:16) So the
question is, how attractive are we to those who see us?
What kind of
advertisement does the Church portray today? If the Church is losing attraction, if
membership is declining, if our parishioners are leaving the Church, it is
because we are getting the wrong kind of publicity and giving the wrong
impression. What the world media is portraying of the Church is one of
hypocrisy and lacking in integrity, when our clergy who are supposed to be the
Father of the family of God, the one who loves and protects the People of God,
especially the young ones, are the ones hurting and manipulating them for their
selfish pleasures. The Church is also perceived as too hierarchical and
our leaders are not to be trusted because instead of being honest, they are
covering up the crimes of their priests. At times, the Church is seen as
losing relevance to the young people as she fails to answer to their needs and
questions. The laity is losing confidence in the leadership of the
Church.
So, it is important for
us to ask ourselves, what were those attractions that made the Church grow? The early Church expanded from
strength to strength on the back of the preaching of the gospel, the exemplary
lifestyles of the apostles and the miracles they performed. But most of
all, they were sharing their faith and food in love. (cf Acts 2:43-47)
Later, when the Church
was more established and the Creed was formulated, the marks of the true Church
of Christ were “one, holy, catholic and apostolic.” These were considered the
attractions of the Church. Unity in the Church is a sign that we are the
Church of Christ. Division is the work of the devil. Secondly,
holiness of the Church is also a powerful sign seen in the lives of holy
priests, religious and lay faithful who lived the gospel life and gave their
lives in service to the people. Thirdly, the Church is also Catholic in
that it is universal, attracting all peoples regardless of race, language or
culture. Finally, it is apostolic, in that our faith and leaders are in
continuity with the faith of the apostles.
Of course, some are
attracted to the Church because of her sound, systematic doctrines and morality
that are presented in a rational and intelligible manner. The beauty of our faith lies in the
fact that all our doctrines are inter-dependent on each other and do not
contradict one another. This is why we speak of the articles of faith,
which resembles the parts of the human body, when all parts are interconnected
with each other. Of course, most do not understand the lofty teachings of
the Church with regard to her doctrines, not just morals but with respect to
the faith. If you belong to that category and do not have a mind of an
intellectual thinking through the profound theological explanations of our
doctrines, then you are on the side of St Theresa. She herself shared
that when she read the writings of the great theologians, she could not
understand and would fall asleep.
Yet, today, many are
attracted to the Church because of St Theresa of the Child Jesus. What is
so attractive about her? It is the way, she teaches us to evangelize
through love and holiness. This
is not something really new. This was taught by the Lord, and lived
out in the early days of the primitive Church. Love and holiness are the
greatest attractions to humanity.
The first thing that is
needed for us to evangelize is to discover that the heart of the Church and the
gospel is love.
St Therese came to understand that it is love that unites the Church.
Love is the vocation of everyone. She said, her one vocation is
love. She knew that she was called to love everyone in Jesus and be like
Jesus to everyone. This is what St Paul tells us in the gospel.
“Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful
or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not
resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the
truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever
comes. Love does not come to an end.” Only because we love,
can we be tolerant with everyone. We can forgive because of love.
We are patient because of love. When there is love, there is nothing we
cannot do. It is the lack of love that makes us impatient, intolerant,
unforgiving, rude, nasty and selfish. Because of love, she tolerated
those times when her sisters misunderstood her or treated her badly.
This explains why the
Church insists so much on charity in proclaiming the gospel. We are attractive to the world only
if we show that we are a Church of mercy. Forgiveness and love for the
suffering and the poor attract people to Christ. When Church leaders lack
mercy and are authoritarian and legalistic, they put people off because the
world is looking for a merciful Father. Indeed, the saving grace of the
Catholic Church today is not because of the lofty doctrines that we teach or
the beauty of our churches. Rather, it is the work of charity seen in our
schools, social and humanitarian services, care for the marginalized, the sick
and the poor, that many people in spite of the scandals committed by their
pastors, continue to be attracted to the Church. The first step towards
evangelization is love through works of mercy. (cf Mk 16:15, 17, 18)
This calls for
childlikeness and simplicity so that we can fall in love with Jesus. In the gospel, Jesus said, “I tell
you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never
enter the kingdom of heaven.” She fell in love with Jesus. She did
not rely on her intellectual knowledge. She simply turned to Jesus and
the bible, reading it with simple faith and love. There the Lord inspired
her and helped her to understand the truths of life. She wrote,
“Sometimes when I read spiritual treatises, in which perfection is shown with a
thousand obstacles in the way and a host of illusions about it, my poor little
mind soon grows weary, I close the learned book, which leaves my head splitting
and my heart parched, and I take the Holy Scriptures. Then all seems luminous,
a single word opens up infinite horizons to my soul, perfection seems easy; I
see that it is enough to realise one’s nothingness, and give oneself wholly,
like a child, into the arms of the good God.”
St Therese felt loved by
the Lord. She was happy to be that little flower for the Lord. When
she accepted that role, she was at complete peace in her life. “Jesus set before me the book of nature. I
understand how all the flowers God has created are beautiful, how the splendor
of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not take away the perfume of the
violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. I understand that if all
flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the
fields would no longer be decked out with little wild flowers. So it is in the
world of souls, Jesus’ garden. He has created smaller ones and those must be
content to be daisies or violets destined to give joy to God’s glances when He
looks down at His feet. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He
wills us to be.” Many of us are not happy with ourselves. We want
to be famous and well known, to occupy that position in life. That is why
we are always restless and lacking peace within us. We always feel the
need to prove ourselves. We are too absorbed in ourselves than really
loving and serving others. Unless, we know that we are all unique like
her in the eyes of God, we cannot truly love ourselves as the Lord has loved
us.
Indeed, if we want to be
powerful witnesses of Christ today, the work of evangelization is simply the
work of love, a love that springs from our personal love for the Lord. It is this joyful surrender in love
to Christ that we will be able to endure all things for His love. Great
martyrs and missionaries served Christ in foreign countries and died for the
love of Christ. If there is a lack of vocation and missionaries today, or
missionary zeal, it is because our faith in Christ is just a cerebral faith,
not a loving and living faith in Him. We need to return to the
scriptures, pray lovingly like St Theresa so that encountering His love, we can
do likewise. When we fall in love with Jesus, we too will find much joy
in loving others. We do not have to do great things or become great to be
His evangelizers. We just need to be “the little flower” that she calls
herself, to bring life and joy to the world. If each one of us just
does our part, regardless how insignificant it might be, we will find joy in
humble service, knowing that we do it out of love for Jesus and our brothers
and sisters.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
