20200214
LAYING
THE FOUNDATION FOR THE CHURCH
4 February,
2020, Friday, Anniversary of the Dedication of the Cathedral of the Good
Shepherd
Ezekiel 47:1-2,
8-9, 12
1 Then he brought me back to the door of the
temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple
toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down
from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. 2 Then
he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to
the outer gate, that faces toward the east;h and the water was coming
out on the south side.
8 And he said to me, “This water flows
toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the
stagnant waters of the sea,i the water will become
fresh. 9 And wherever the riverj goes every living
creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this
water goes there, that the waters of the seak may become fresh; so
everything will live where the river goes.
12 And on the banks, on both sides of the
river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not
wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month,
because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for
food, and their leaves for healing.”
1Cor 3:9-17
10 According to the grace of God given to me,
like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another man is building
upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it. 11 For
no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus
Christ. 12 Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each man’s work
will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed
with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If
the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a
reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer
loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple
and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If any one destroys
God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and that temple
you are.
John 2:13-22
13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and
Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those
who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their
business. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all,
with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the
money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told
those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; you shall not make my
Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered
that it was written, “Zeal for thy house will consume me.” 18 The
Jews then said to him, “What sign have you to show us for doing this?” 19 Jesus
answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The
Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will
you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he spoke of the temple
of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture
and the word which Jesus had spoken.
LAYING THE
FOUNDATION FOR THE CHURCH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EZEKIEL 47:1-2, 8-9, 12; 1 COR 3:9-17; JOHN 2:13-22 ]
St Paul in the second reading wrote, “You
are God’s building. By the grace God gave me, I succeeded as an architect and
laid the foundations, on which someone else is doing the building.”
What kind of foundation did we lay since the Cathedral was rededicated three
years ago? Since it was rededicated, we sought to make the Cathedral
truly as a Mother Church.
As the mother Church,
she is called to be a model for being life-giving. As we read in the first reading
from the book of Ezekiel, the stream that flowed out from the Temple threshold
brought life wherever the river flowed. “All living creatures teeming in
it will live. Fish will be very plentiful, for wherever the water goes it
brings health, and life teems wherever the river flows. Along the river, on
either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither
and fruit that never fails; they will bear new fruit every month, because this
water comes from the sanctuary. And their fruit will be good to eat and the
leaves medicinal.” The Cathedral is called to be life-giving to all
who come to this place for worship and prayers.
What have we done to
make the Cathedral a truly life-giving Church? Firstly, we started RCIA
classes. Giving new birth
to non-Catholics and adding new members to the Church is what a mother
does. A church that does not have catechumens is a sign that it is
a maintenance church, not a vibrant, evangelizing and missionary church.
When that happens, we become an aging mother without children to continue to
grow the church.
Secondly, the Cathedral
sought to be nurturing as all mothers are called to do. Giving birth to new children is only
the first step. We need to continue to journey with them in their faith
so that they will mature in faith. Here, the Cathedral tried to organize
talks and also spiritual movies to inspire people in their faith. As
mother, the Cathedral seeks to form the faith of our people, deepen their
knowledge of the faith and also deepen their relationship with the Lord.
Thirdly, as mother, the
Church seeks to be welcoming to all. In this Cathedral, we have visitors from
all walks of life and from many parts of the world as well, besides our own
locals from other parishes. Regardless of race, language and nationality
and religions, all are made to feel welcome in this Cathedral. Indeed,
the Cathedral seeks to be affirming and encouraging to all those who come to
this Cathedral for worship.
Fourthly, the Cathedral
as mother sought to be inclusive of all. This is why the Cathedral holds
archdiocesan celebrations here. Different church organizations hold their
services here. The Church is inclusive and all must be in touch with the
mother church. The task of the mother is to unite all her children as one
family. To serve this purpose, the Cathedral also reaches out to the poor
through the social programs that help them financially, and those who have left
the Church or lost their faith through the Landings program.
Yet, the real foundation
of the Cathedral is to transform this church into a lively church for worship
and prayers. There
is a 24-hour adoration room for people to pray and spend quiet time with the
Lord. The Cathedral organizes regular holy hour devotions for us to pray
as a community for the vision and mission of the Church. The Church also
remains open at other times of the day and late into the night for those who
wish to pray in the church. We have good choirs that sing beautifully for
the glory of God. By so doing, we have fulfilled what the Lord had said
in the gospel, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer'” (Mt 21:13)
As a consequence, today,
the Cathedral is vibrant with activities. She is a beacon not just for the Catholics
in Singapore but also for the rest of society. Every year at the Night
Festival and at Christmas, the Cathedral draws peoples from all walks of
life. Indeed, the Cathedral is well lighted up and has become not
just a national monument but a light for all. Today, we can safely say
that the Cathedral is alive; not just a building without the living stones.
But all these would not
have been possible unless you build the church together with the priests of the
Cathedral in Christ.
Our task as shepherds is to lay the foundation, just as St Paul did. St
Paul reminds us, “Everyone doing the building must work carefully. For the
foundation, nobody can lay any other than the one which has already been laid,
that is Jesus Christ.” Christ is the foundation of the
building. But as St Peter also says, “The Lord is the living stone,
rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him; set yourselves close to
him so that you too, the holy priesthood that offers the spiritual sacrifices
which Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God, may be living stones making a
spiritual house.” We need to strengthen our foundation in Christ if
we are to flourish and make this Cathedral, which means all of us, into a
life-giving people. We must set ourselves close to the Lord.
Only then can we become “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated
nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called you out of the
darkness into his wonderful light.”
Yet, there is one other
foundation that perhaps, the Cathedral would have to work together. This is the all-important task of
building a community of communities. The Cathedral is not just a
collective assembly of people who come for worship and then disappear after the
celebration. If this were so, their faith will not last because those who
come here treat the Church purely on the functional level of providing
services, worship and the sacraments. And that is what most church
ministries do, namely, to provide a service, whether it be the Extraordinary
Ministers of Communion, the Wardens, the Altar Servers, the Choirs, etc.
In other words, the Church is more focused on being functional than on building
a community.
The danger of such a
situation is that people would have no real identification with the Cathedral. This is because they do not
belong to any community, and even if they were to join a ministry, it is
reduced purely to providing a service. Building community through
fellowship and prayers, sharing the Word of God together are often neglected or
not done at all. This is why many ministry members leave after some
time. Many who come here will leave hopefully inspired, but they do not
have any real affiliation. When that happens, in times of trials and
difficulties, they will have no one to turn to and no one to give them the
spiritual and moral support. They will end up turning to non-Catholics for help
and guidance because they do not belong to any community. And because the
members are attached to the priests rather than to the community, when the
priests are transferred out, they will also stop serving all together.
The allegiance therefore is to the priests and not to the community. This
would be disastrous as the foundation would not last. This is what St
Paul is warning us about.
How do we know that our
foundation is strong?
He wrote, “Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious
stones, wood, hay, straw – the work of each builder will become visible,
for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the
fire will test what sort of work each has done. If what has been built on
the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the
work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but
only as through fire.” (1 Cor 3:12-15) In other words, after the
priest leaves the parish, or any lay leader leaves the organization, will the
good works continue or will it collapse with the departure of the leader?
If not, St Paul says, we might have saved the person but the community would be
destroyed.
Indeed, this is the most
difficult challenge the Cathedral faces because we are also constrained by
space and by the diversity of those who come to this Cathedral for
worship. But
if we do not look into the building of strong communities, our people will just
come here for inspiration and help but they will not be discipled or mentored
as Catholics. They will not be able to grow in their faith or remain
strong because they lack a community where they can journey together in faith,
in discipleship in trust and love. So this should be the next stage of
development and growth for the Cathedral community, to see how we can
circumvent all the obstacles and start building a community of communities,
beginning with our ministry members.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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