Thursday, 13 February 2020

LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR THE CHURCH

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
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. 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.
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. 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
For we are God’s fellow workers;* you are God’s field, God’s building. 
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 47:1-28-9121 COR 3:9-17JOHN 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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