20191028
JESUS
AS THE BOND OF UNITY
28 OCTOBER,
2019, Monday, Ss Simon and Jude, Apostles
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Red.
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First reading
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Ephesians 2:19-22 ©
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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. 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.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 18(19):2-5 ©
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Their word goes forth
through all the earth.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God,
and the firmament shows forth
the work of his hands.
Day unto day takes up the story
and night unto night makes
known the message.
Their word goes forth
through all the earth.
No speech, no word, no voice is heard
yet their span extends through
all the earth,
their words to the utmost
bounds of the world.
Their word goes forth
through all the earth.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Te Deum
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Alleluia, alleluia!
We praise you, O God,
we acknowledge you to be the Lord.
The glorious company of the apostles
praise you, O Lord.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 6:12-16 ©
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Jesus went out into the hills to pray; and
he spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came he summoned his
disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them ‘apostles’: Simon whom
he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of
James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.
JESUS AS THE
BOND OF UNITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EPHESIANS 2:19-22; LUKE 6:12-19 ]
St Paul tells us that we
“are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are citizens like all the
saints, and part of God’s household.” Indeed, the spiritual reality of the
Christian community is that we are all members of the family of God. We
are all citizens of heaven and are called saints of God. In truth, we all
should work and collaborate as One Body of Christ, One Church and One
Community. Yet the reality is that getting people to work together is the
greatest challenge in the Church because everyone has his own ideas,
philosophy, horizon, background, approaches and concerns. So many do not
see eye-to-eye. If forced to toe the line, they would resist or simply
just do not cooperate and do their own things. So we have a Church
divided in her mission, in her strategy and in her outreach.
So what can we do about
this? How can we strengthen our mission in communion? We can take a page
from our Lord’s leadership when He summoned the Twelve to collaborate with Him
in His mission.
What is significant is that He was not afraid of diversity, whether of ideology
or status or intellectual capacity. He chose those who had the heart or
passion for the gospel. He chose those who were His friends, those who
believed in Him. He was not concerned about whether their ideologies
differed from His or whether they were rich or poor. All that mattered
for Jesus was that they were willing disciples who wanted to grow closer to
Him. It did not matter what their motives were. So long as they
were teachable and docile to learn, Jesus was ready to accept them as His
apostles.
Indeed, leaders need not
know everything. In
fact, no leader knows everything today because knowledge is so
specialized. A leader depends on his team members to carry out the vision
and mission. That was why Jesus chose His team of varied talents,
backgrounds, temperament, trades and experiences. He needed the
tax-collector Matthew to reach out to other tax-collectors. He needed the
fishermen to connect with the ordinary people. He needed revolutionaries
like Simon, whose feast we celebrate today, also called the Zealot. He
was known to be an ardent and zealous revolutionary. Jesus needed people
with zeal and fervor for His mission. Jesus needed James and John who
were ambitious for power and glory. He would teach them humility in
service and to use their gifts for the gospel and eventually to suffer
martyrdom in the case of James, the first apostle to drink the cup of our Lord.
But the leader must be
clear of His mission and vision. He must know what He wants for His
organization. His task is to
excite people to buy into his vision and mission. His role is to help the
team members to embrace the vision set forth. This calls for
clarification, explanation, persuasion, dialogue, with the leader leading the
way. This was the way of our Lord. Jesus called His apostles to be
with Him, day and night, watching Him in prayer and instructing them in the
gospel way of life, purifying their motives, and enlightening them. Jesus
walked the talk and demonstrated His vision and mission by His actions and
words. Eventually, they would come to subscribe to Jesus’ vision and
mission. It took more than three years and it happened only after His
death and resurrection.
That is why the apostles
were ready to go out and preach the gospel only after receiving the Spirit of
Jesus. “While
staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait
there for the promise of the Father. ‘This,’ he said, ‘is what you have heard
from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized
with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'” (Acts 1:4f) Only after this reception,
could they be His apostles.
Our people must first
and foremost be built on Christ because He is our cornerstone. In other
words, our first task as leaders is to build up our people in faith. This
is the most challenging and most basic tasks of a leader. This is what St
Paul urges us. He said, “You are part of a building that has the apostles
and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main
cornerstone. 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.” We need to form our people in faith and in
love. I said this is the most difficult task because most of our
Catholics and ministry members only want to serve. They like
activities. They want to convert the whole world, reach out to the poor,
do great things for God and for the Church but they spend very little time in
prayer and reflection on the Word of God, and least of all, in formation.
But it is not enough to
say that Christ is the Cornerstone. We are part of that Temple as
well. We need to find Christ through the help of the Church, especially
the Magisterium.
This is because the Church of Christ is built on the faith of the apostles,
expressed by St Peter, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”
(Mt 16:15) And Jesus answered, “I tell
you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the
gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys
of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16:18f) Our faith in Christ is not
our own dreamt-up vision of Christ but in continuity with the faith of the
apostles. Otherwise, the Christ that we worship would not be in
continuity with the Jesus of Nazareth but a Christ created out of our imagination
and fancies.
Unity also demands that
the community must work with the bishop in the diocese because he is the head
of the Christian community.
If each leader were to go in his or her own direction, we would end up with a
divided Church, which would not do anyone any good. We will become weak
in the face of opposition in the world. The organization that we are
supporting will not grow much because of parochial-mindedness and
competition. Unless each leader is willing to let go of his or her own
ideas and plans; and willing to work for the greater good of all by aligning
their mission with that of the diocese, we would only have ourselves to blame
when we find ourselves inept and helpless in the face of challenges. With
unity, there is greater strength, collaboration and effective use of
resources. But when we have tribal warlords setting themselves up in the
Church and in organizations, caring not for the good of the entire Church but
for their own security, ego and recognition, the growth of the mission of the
Church will be compromised.
But that is not all. It
means that we need to do our part in helping to build the Church of Christ.
Later on, St Paul would speak of the different gifts at the service of
the community. “The
gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some
evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work
of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to
the measure of the full stature of Christ.” (Eph 4:11-13) Members of the community
must be taught, reminded and exhorted to bring their talents and resources to
the community for the service of all.
Again, the sad reality
is that most of our Catholics know how to receive but do not know how to give. Only 10 to 15% truly give back to
the community. The rest, that is another 20% who come to church regularly
on Sundays, give token support. But their demands on the Church are
high. They want air-conditioning, a nice ambience, world class
facilities, best choir, great music, eloquent preaching, articulate readers,
efficient wardens, well-formed catechists, dynamic youth leaders, etc.
But where do we get all these from? They do not drop from heaven.
We depend on the generosity of the community to provide manpower, resources and
funds. The Church cannot grow unless all are united in service.
In the final analysis,
Jesus must be the bond of our unity.
If we love Jesus enough, we will do anything for His Church. If we love
Jesus, we will obey the leaders He appointed to lead us. If we love
Jesus, we will read the Word of God daily. If we love Jesus, we will
spend time with Him in intimacy in prayer daily. If we love Jesus, we
will use all our resources to serve Him, glorify Him and make His name
known. If we love Jesus, we will love His Body the Church. If we
love Jesus, then we want to be one with each other so that the world will know
that we are His disciples.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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