20201203 RISE UP, REACH OUT
03 December, 2020, Thursday, St Francis Xavier
First reading |
1 Corinthians 9:16-19,22-23 © |
I should be punished if I did not preach the Gospel
I do not boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me; I should be punished if I did not preach it! If I had chosen this work myself, I might have been paid for it, but as I have not, it is a responsibility which has been put into my hands. Do you know what my reward is? It is this: in my preaching, to be able to offer the Good News free, and not insist on the rights which the gospel gives me.
So though I am not a slave of any man I have made myself the slave of everyone so as to win as many as I could. I made myself all things to all men in order to save some at any cost; and I still do this, for the sake of the gospel, to have a share in its blessings.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 116(117):1-2 © |
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
O praise the Lord, all you nations,
acclaim him all you peoples!
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
Strong is his love for us;
he is faithful for ever.
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Mt28:19,20 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Go, make disciples of all the nations.
I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 16:15-20 © |
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News
Jesus showed himself to the Eleven and said to them:
‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned. These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.’
And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven: there at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.
RISE UP, REACH OUT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23; Ps 117: 1-2; Mk 16:15-20 ]
Today we celebrate the Feast of St Francis Xavier. This saint is very significant to those of us who live in the Far East, particularly in India, Malaysia, Japan and China. This is why we celebrate the memorial of St Francis Xavier as a feast in our region, for he is the patron of missionaries. Francis Xavier was born in Spain and studied in the University of Paris in France, the theological center in Europe. Instead of continuing as a professor at the University, he took up the challenge of St Ignatius to go to the Far East to spread the gospel. He went to Goa in India and preached the gospel. He then went over briefly to Malaysia, evangelizing at Malacca for several months. Later on, he went to Japan and on his way to China, died of fever.
Indeed, St Francis was a great missionary of the gospel. Without knowledge of the languages, cultures and religions of the Far East, he courageously gave up his life for the mission. What motivated him, what gave him the zeal and perseverance? It is opportune for us to reflect on his missionary and pastoral zeal so that we can also be inspired, like him, to become more evangelizing and missionary in the way we live our faith. It is not enough that we have a church and our major seminary named after St Francis Xavier, it is more important that we imbibe his missionary zeal for the gospel.
Like St Paul, St Francis Xavier saw his calling as a duty imposed on him. St Paul wrote, “I do not boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me; I should be punished if I did not preach it! If I had chosen this work myself, I might have been paid for it, but as I have not, it is a responsibility which has been put into my hands.” When it is a duty, it means an obligation and a responsibility. Often, we lack commitment because we feel it is not our duty to do it. Many of us, Catholics, do not realize that it is a duty for us to evangelize and to spread the gospel by virtue of our baptism. We think it is the duty of priests and religious. Today the gospel makes it clear. “Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation.” The proclamation of the gospel is not the sole prerogative of the clergy and religious. It is incumbent on all baptized Christians, each according to his or her vocation in life to make Christ known and loved. More so when it is the Lord who calls. Like the apostles, we must drop everything, our nets, our wealth and our time for the service of the Lord. We are all His servants. The King of Kings is calling us into His service.
But it is more than just a duty, it is also a great privilege. The danger of seeing the obligation of mission simply as a duty, is that we do it without joy and without enthusiasm. We can even do it grudgingly and are resentful about it as well. There are some of us who have a duty to look after the elderly but who see it as a burden. This is why more and more young people are abandoning their elderly to the institutions to look after them. They find it a chore and a financial burden to care for them. This is because they do it without love. Instead of seeing it as a great privilege to return the kindness and love they received when they were growing up, they see it as a duty to repay. So too, with regard to the mission, St Francis and St Paul saw it as a great privilege to serve the Lord their master in going out to share the good news. If we are chosen by the Holy Father, the President or the Prime Minister to undertake a project, wouldn’t we feel honored and privileged, even though the moment we accept the invitation, it becomes a duty? But it is a joyful duty. Indeed, what greater privilege is there in life than to be able to serve God and His people!
St Francis was also motivated by both his passion for Christ and his compassion for those who have not yet known Christ. We can be sure that the words of the gospel, “He who believes and is baptised is saved; he who does not believe will be condemned” would have been deeply etched in the mind of St Francis. It was about the urgency to save souls. Unfortunately, as a result of an inadequate understanding of Vatican II, this is something we have lost in the Catholic Church. After Vatican II, when mission moved from conversion to dialogue, many felt that it was no longer important to evangelize and have people baptized in Christ, since all could be saved without baptism, so long as they lived a good life and practiced their religion. Indeed, since Vatican II, the Church has lost the sense of mission. Most of our missionaries were all born and ordained before Vatican II, or just after, when foreign missions were still strong. Today, such zeal has gone away because of the loss of urgency to spread the gospel. Today, we are not so much concerned about saving souls. We are more concerned about saving the body through humanitarian aid. This is why in the 1980’s, beginning with St John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict and our current Pope Francis are at the forefront in getting the Church back on track to become more missionary-minded. We have lost much ground to our Protestant brethren in the work of evangelization.
Yet, we can also learn from St Francis and St Paul in the work of mission in today’s time. What is significant from them is that we need to be a man for all seasons if we are to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles, that is, to those of other faiths. St Paul wrote, “So though I am not a slave of any man I have made myself the slave of everyone so as to win as many as I could. For the weak I made myself weak. I made myself all things to all men in order to save some at any cost; and I still do this, for the sake of the gospel, to have a share in its blessings.” The context of this text came just after St Paul’s instruction on partaking of food offered to idols. Earlier on, he made it clear that food offered to idols does not affect the food itself because idols are nothing since we only believe in the one God, who is the creator of us all. (1 Cor 8:4-6) But he also cautioned against pride and insensitivity to those who are weaker in faith. In Christian charity, we should not do anything that hurts the sensitivity and conscience of our fellow Christians. What is right or legal does not mean that we should always demand our rights.
Indeed, this was the strategy of St Paul in his preaching to the Gentiles by being identified with his listeners and audience, being one with them, feeling with them and seeing things from their perspective. He wrote, “To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law.” It is important that missionaries be identified with the people so that they could help to mediate the gospel in a language and culture that they could relate with. We need to bridge the gap between the gospel and culture. What is critical today, as in the time of St Paul and St Francis, is to evangelize man’s culture and cultures by renewing them with the gospel of Christ. This was why St Francis learned the language and culture of the people he evangelized, but without compromising the faith even in inculturation. There is legitimate and illegitimate inculturation. This is a great lesson for us today because we are living in a cosmopolitan society. Engaging in dialogue with non-believers require us to speak in their language and culture. Hopefully dialogue will open them to faith in Christ.
Finally, St Francis, like St Paul, was also motivated by the reward of fulfillment. He was a brilliant scholar with a bright future in the Academia as professor of philosophy at the University of Paris when St Ignatius posed a challenge to him quoting the words of our Lord, “what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?” (Mt 16:26) Instead of looking for fame and glory, St Francis decided to give up the prospect of being a great professor in the University. Instead, he chose to give his life to the missions in unknown lands and territories, bringing Christ to those who did not yet know Him. Indeed, the greatest reward of a missionary and an evangelizer is not in terms of material needs and personal glory but the joy of bringing someone to the Lord or bringing healing to the sick and wounded, or meaning to those who are hopeless. St Paul said, “Do you know what my reward is? It is this: in my preaching, to be able to offer the Good News free, and not insist on the rights which the gospel gives me.” It is the joy of giving freely!
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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