20201028 FOSTERING UNITY: A HOPELESS ENDEAVOR?
28 October, 2020, Wednesday, Ss Simon and Jude, Apostles
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Red.
First reading |
Ephesians 2:19-22 © |
In Christ you are no longer aliens, but citizens like us
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.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 18(19):2-5 © |
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.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Te Deum |
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!
Gospel | Luke 6:12-16 © |
Jesus chooses his twelve apostles
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.
FOSTERING UNITY: A HOPELESS ENDEAVOR?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EPHESIANS 2:19-22; LUKE 6:12-19 ]
One of the greatest challenges a leader faces is building unity and alignment in his organization. This is true in every organization, be it religious, political, corporate or government. This is because we all come from diverse backgrounds, experiences, upbringing, education, religious convictions, political inclination and influence. More so in a world of globalization where we are all exposed to different cultures, religions and philosophical ideologies, getting everyone on the same page, buying into the mission and vision and moving the dream forward becomes almost a futile task. So much so, many leaders are tempted to give up.
The Church is divided not only because we cannot agree on the vision and mission of the Church, but also the way we should move forward. Disagreement is found not just on operational issues but also doctrinal views. Each one has their own views of God, of liturgy, and Church laws. Indeed, the real cause of division is doctrinal and theological pluralism, the understanding of authority. More so for the Catholic Church which is universal, with more than one billion members from all cultures, languages, spiritual maturity, theological depths, social and intellectual classes, and religious experiences.
If we feel hopeless and want to give up the vision of a united Church, a united people, a united country, then we should turn to Ss Simon and Jude for inspiration. This is what St Paul wrote, “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.” We are called to build our foundation in the apostles and in Christ as our foundation stone. In this way, “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.”
Indeed, among the apostles, St Jude is known as the patron saint for hopeless cases and St Simon is named as the zealot. From St Jude, we need to ask for perseverance, and from St Simon, never to give up our zeal for what we believe in and what we stand for. St Jude was also concerned about the division in the Church. He wrote one of the Catholic epistles, addressed to the Universal Church. In his letter, he expressed concern about the division of the Church caused by Christians who were living a life of licentiousness and corrupting the other Christians by unacceptable teachings. Of them, he wrote, “They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved forever.” (Jude 12f) Simon, on the other hand, was known for his zeal and passion for his Jewish identity, his love for the Law and his people. His zeal and unswerving devotion to God gave him the title, “the Zealot.”
What does it take to forge unity in our churches and organizations? The answer is found in rooting ourselves in the Lord as our cornerstone. St Jude posed a question to our Lord. “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.” (Jn 14:22-24) Indeed, only when we allow the Lord to live in our hearts in His Word, does the Father come to make our home with us. Unity is founded on our common love for the Lord.
For us, Christians, if Christ is our cornerstone as St Paul said in the first reading, then we must find our unity in Him. This was how the Lord gathered His disciples together. In the gospel, we read that “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, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became the traitor.” The Lord knowingly choose from among His disciples a very disparate and diverse group of men to be His apostles. They all came from different social classes, political inclinations, different trades and occupation, mostly of the lower class, uneducated but also some dubious characters like Matthew the tax-collector and even among them, a traitor. All these with different temperaments, personalities and characters would surely be unable to get along with each other. We can be sure that there were clashes and tensions among them. Yet, Jesus chose them, not in spite of, but because of their different perspectives and social strata, so that they could contribute to the richness and diversity of the new People of God.
Jesus would form them into a community by winning them over by His love. It was their common devotion to the Lord that brought them together in spite of their differences and social status. They might have fought with each other for positions and status, or how they should relate with the Romans, but all came together because of one man, Jesus, whom they loved and admired. For the sake of Jesus, they were willing to set aside their differences and work together for the common good of the Church. Indeed, as Christians, we might have our differences in doctrines, in our vision for the Church, the way we carry out the mission, yet, if we have a common love for the Lord, we will stay together and work together because we love Christ. To love the Lord is to love His Church. This was what the Lord prayed in His priestly prayer, “As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (Jn 17:21-23)
Secondly, unity can only be achieved by prayer. This was why the Lord, before He appointed the Twelve, was up the whole night in prayer. In fact, this is the only instance in the gospel when we are told that the Lord spent the whole night in prayer before making an important decision. “Jesus went out into the hills to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God.” Of course, at the Garden of Gethsemane, before His passion, He also prayed the whole night for strength and courage. We cannot achieve great things or make wise decisions without prayer. So often, as Church, we spend hours in meetings but only a few minutes in prayer. Perhaps, we have not listened to God and that is why our decisions are not inspired by God. Like St Jude, we must never give up hope in God who works in us.
Thirdly, unity can be achieved if we all have clarity of our fundamental common vision and mission, which is to build the New People of God, constituted by our Lord in appointing the Twelve apostles to replace the Twelve Tribes of Israel. In choosing the Twelve, Jesus was establishing the New People of God, which will come from all strata of society, regardless of language, race and culture. We are all called to be members of God’s household. “You are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are citizens like all the saints, and part of God’s household.” Inspired by this vision of our Lord, we are all called to join in His mission which is the work of restoration, reconciliation and healing. After appointing the Twelve, “He then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples with a great crowd of people from all parts of Judaea and from Jerusalem and from the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. People tormented by unclean spirits were also cured, and everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them all.” This is what we are called to do as well. Be a hope to others as St Jude is to us. Be zealous in reaching out to the suffering and wounded as Simon the Zealot was.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved. The contents of this page may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission from the Archbishop’s Office. This includes extracts, quotations, and summaries.
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