20200811 CARING FOR THE WEAK AND THE LOST
11 August, 2020, Tuesday, 19th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.
These are the readings for the feria
First reading | Ezekiel 2:8-3:4 © |
He gave me the scroll to eat and it was as sweet as honey
I, Ezekiel, heard a voice speaking. It said, ‘You, son of man, listen to the words I say; do not be a rebel like that rebellious set. Open your mouth and eat what I am about to give you.’ I looked. A hand was there, stretching out to me and holding a scroll. He unrolled it in front of me; it was written on back and front; on it was written ‘lamentations, wailings, moanings.’ He said, ‘Son of man, eat what is given to you; eat this scroll, then go and speak to the House of Israel.’ I opened my mouth; he gave me the scroll to eat and said, ‘Son of man, feed and be satisfied by the scroll I am giving you.’ I ate it, and it tasted sweet as honey.
Then he said, ‘Son of man, go to the House of Israel and tell them what I have said.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 118(119):14,24,72,103,111,131 © |
Your promise is sweet to my taste, O Lord.
I rejoiced to do your will
as though all riches were mine.
Your will is my delight;
your statutes are my counsellors.
Your promise is sweet to my taste, O Lord.
The law from your mouth means more to me
than silver and gold.
Your promise is sweeter to my taste
than honey in the mouth.
Your promise is sweet to my taste, O Lord.
Your will is my heritage for ever,
the joy of my heart.
I open my mouth and I sigh
as I yearn for your commands.
Your promise is sweet to my taste, O Lord.
Gospel Acclamation | Mt11:25 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt11:29 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Shoulder my yoke and learn from me,
says the Lord,
for I am gentle and humble in heart.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 18:1-5,10,12-14 © |
Anyone who welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me
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.
‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
‘See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.
‘Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? I tell you solemnly, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.’
CARING FOR THE WEAK AND THE LOST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EZEKIEL 2:8-3:4: MATTHEW 18:1-5, 10, 12-14 ]
In the first reading, God commanded the prophet, Ezekiel, to be a prophet to the rebellious people of Judah. A voice spoke, “You, son of man, listen to the words I say; do not be a rebel like that rebellious set. Son of man, go to the House of Israel and tell them what I have said.” Israel had been unfaithful to the Lord. Judah had fallen to the Babylonians and the people were exiled to Babylon. As Church, this is also our mission. We must reach out to our Catholics who are weak in their faith or have lost their faith. This is the same message and call by our Lord in today’s gospel. Jesus told His disciples to welcome the little ones to the kingdom of God. “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.” However, it is not enough to welcome or take care of the little ones but the lost sheep as well. “Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”
Often as Church, we forget that our primary mission is to call people to repentance and back to God. When we forget this mission, the Church becomes a maintenance Church. This is the reason why many institutionalized churches, Catholic and non-Catholic, over the years lose zeal for the faith and passion for the ministry, and especially outreach to find new disciples for Jesus. We spend all our energy looking after those who are healthy, rich, mature and stable; people who do not give us problems. We are happy to work with them, to collaborate with them because they are providing resources to the Church in terms of workforce, services and most of all, funds. They supply our needs and help us to organize programs that make the church alive and vibrant. However, this is inward-looking, simply looking after our own flock. We form ourselves into another conclave where we support and care for each other. But this is not the purpose of the existence of the Church.
On the other hand, we isolate and marginalize those that are giving us problems and difficulties. They are the sickly, wounded, broken, injured and foolish sheep in our midst. They cannot contribute much to the church and are dependent on us. They cannot afford to give big donations to the church. In fact, many of them come to the church for financial help. Some are psychologically dysfunctional and even depressed. Such people take much of our time because they are so wounded, sensitive and reactive to whatever is happening. As a result, they often cause division in the Christian community. Then some are sickly or mentally challenged and can no longer come to church. They are conveniently forgotten. Out of sight, out of mind. Besides these people, many have been hurt by the Church, whether by priests or lay leaders or members. Some have left the Church but we never ask them how they are doing or seek to welcome them back to the community. Such difficult, time-consuming and demanding people we would rather avoid. We just leave them alone, and if they choose to leave the community, we feel relieved because they are too difficult to minister to.
However, looking after the healthy and the strong only is contrary to the mission of our Lord. Jesus made it clear, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” (Mk 2:17) Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows, “Proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.” (Mt 10:6-8) The Good News is to be given to the poor, the sick, the wounded, the lost and the sinners. These are the people that Jesus gave priority to.
For this reason, we need to reassess what we as Church are doing. Are we just caring for the strong and the good ones, or do we sincerely reach out to those who are weak and lost? Of course, this does not mean that we neglect the strong and good ones. Without the capable and strong ones, there is no way we can minister to the others who are weak in their spiritual life, vulnerable in the faith, prone to temptations, gullible and easily deceived by the temptations of the world and lost because of ignorance and folly. We certainly need to form disciples and grow our disciples to maturity of faith. Unless our faithful are well equipped spiritually and grounded in the scriptures and the teachings of the Church, we cannot send them to the battlefront because the world will devour them!
However, we cannot wait for all of them to graduate before we send them out. It will never happen because no one is spiritually or doctrinally formed once and for all. Faith is a growing process and it must always be growing. It does not mean that when we undertake the task of being a missionary or minister of the gospel, we stop being disciples. Pope Francis reminds us that we are missionary disciples. The Lord reminds us, “But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father – the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.” (Mt 23:8-10) Again the Lord advised us, “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master.” (Mt 10:24f)
In the meantime, we must consistently make it our priority to reach out to the little children of faith, as the Lord commanded. These children include all those who are weak in faith. The children include those who are emotionally and psychologically immature. Children are ignorant and foolish. They are easily influenced for good or for evil. But they are receptive. This is why we need to form them well. They are dependent on their guardians. No child ever thinks that he could live without his parents. Children are always humble to ask for help and they have total trust that their parents will look after them. Because of their innocence and receptivity, they are also very vulnerable and easily lose their direction in life. Unscrupulous people seek to tempt the innocent to sin, recruit them to be their accomplice to sinful deeds and encourage them to do evil by walking on the wrong path.
We must ask ourselves whether we really care for the young. The reality is we have very few ministries to form the young in the faith, not just children, but teenagers and young adults. Most of our ministries are directed at married couples and older adults. The Church finds this group of people, especially children and young people challenging to deal with due to the generation gap. Yet the future leaders of the Church are dependent on them. Many of our young people leave after confirmation, a clear sign of the failure of catechesis and post catechesis, something we never really reckoned with seriously. We are just contented that we have done our job to confirm the young people. What they do after confirmation is no longer our business. Sad to say, many of them leave the Church and never return.
The other important group of people in our outreach would be the lost sheep. Jesus came for them specifically. Bringing back one lost sheep, the Lord said, “gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all.” Jesus made it clear, “it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.” We should not just be concerned with maintaining those who are already with us, but we should be equally concerned about bringing back those sheep that are lost in the world and do not know Christ. Worst still is when we are not bothered that even quite a number of adults who have completed the RCIA have left the Church because they felt neglected, abandoned and sometimes hurt. We do not actively seek to reconcile them with the Lord and with the community. We spend so much time taking care of those who are still with us, but because they do not go out to bring new ones, their faith remains unchallenged, becomes stagnant and complacent. The best way to grow the faith of those who are with us is for them to reach out to others.
We cannot do what we are doing unless leaders once again fall in love with the Lord and pay special attention to the Word of God. The Lord told Ezekiel, “‘Son of man, eat what is given to you; eat this scroll, then go and speak to the House of Israel.’ I opened my mouth; he gave me the scroll to eat and said, ‘Son of man, feed and be satisfied by the scroll I am giving you.’ I ate it, and it tasted sweet as honey.” Unless we taste the Word of God like honey, we cannot proclaim His Word in times of rejection and trials. However, if we taste the Word of God, we will say with the psalmist, “I rejoiced to do your will as though all riches were mine. Your will is my delight; your statutes are my counsellors. The law from your mouth means more to me than silver and gold. Your promise is sweeter to my taste than honey in the mouth.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment