20210424 UNION WITH JESUS AS THE CONDITION FOR FRUITFULNESS IN MINISTRY
24 April, 2021, Saturday, 3rd Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 9:31-42 © |
The churches grew and were filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit
The churches throughout Judaea, Galilee and Samaria were now left in peace, building themselves up, living in the fear of the Lord, and filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit.
Peter visited one place after another and eventually came to the saints living down in Lydda. There he found a man called Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. Peter said to him, ‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ cures you: get up and fold up your sleeping mat.’ Aeneas got up immediately; everybody who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they were all converted to the Lord.
At Jaffa there was a woman disciple called Tabitha, or Dorcas in Greek, who never tired of doing good or giving in charity. But the time came when she got ill and died, and they washed her and laid her out in a room upstairs. Lydda is not far from Jaffa, so when the disciples heard that Peter was there, they sent two men with an urgent message for him, ‘Come and visit us as soon as possible.’
Peter went back with them straightaway, and on his arrival they took him to the upstairs room, where all the widows stood round him in tears, showing him tunics and other clothes Dorcas had made when she was with them. Peter sent them all out of the room and knelt down and prayed. Then he turned to the dead woman and said, ‘Tabitha, stand up.’ She opened her eyes, looked at Peter and sat up. Peter helped her to her feet, then he called in the saints and widows and showed them she was alive. The whole of Jaffa heard about it and many believed in the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 115(116):12-17 © |
How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me?
or
Alleluia!
How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me?
or
Alleluia!
My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people.
O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.
How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me?
or
Alleluia!
Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;
you have loosened my bonds.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me?
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation |
Alleluia, alleluia!
We know that Christ is truly risen from the dead:
have mercy on us, triumphant King.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Jn6:63,68 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 6:60-69 © |
Who shall we go to? You are the Holy One of God
After hearing his doctrine many of the followers of Jesus said, ‘This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?’ Jesus was aware that his followers were complaining about it and said, ‘Does this upset you? What if you should see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before?
‘It is the spirit that gives life,
the flesh has nothing to offer.
The words I have spoken to you are spirit
and they are life.
‘But there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the outset those who did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. He went on, ‘This is why I told you that no one could come to me unless the Father allows him.’ After this, many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him.
Then Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.’
UNION WITH JESUS AS THE CONDITION FOR FRUITFULNESS IN MINISTRY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Acts 9:31-42; Ps 116:12-17; John 6:60- 69]
In the gospel, in the parable of the Vine and the Branches, our Lord told His disciples. “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:4f) Truly, union with the Lord is a necessary condition for fruitfulness in ministry. This explains why the Lord earlier on in His discourse on the Eucharist said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.” (Jn 6:56f)
Of course, eating His flesh and drinking His blood is more than just a symbolic union with Him in Spirit as in accepting His word and teaching. The literal way in which Jesus spoke of His real body and blood in the Eucharist is His way of saying that by eating His flesh and drinking His blood, He is united with us in Spirit and in body. Jesus’ identification with His Church as His body and He as the head is illustrated in the conversion of St Paul when he asked the Lord, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord answered Paul, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 9:5) Of course, it is not just consuming the Eucharist that makes us one with Jesus but we must allow the Spirit of Jesus to live in us. This entails listening to His Word because He is the bread of life, and participating in His sacrificial sacrifice by pouring our lives in libation for our fellowmen and for our Lord just as Paul later would say, “As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim 4:6f)
This demands absolute and unconditional faith in Him. This is the ultimate test of whether we are in union with our Lord. Unfortunately, even though many of us are His disciples, we pick and choose what we like and discard what we do not like. When we act in this manner, we are making ourselves the Lord because we regard Jesus as just one of our advisers with whom we can agree or disagree with. This was so in the case of many of His followers who said, “This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?” Not only can they not accept the scandalous demand of Jesus to eat His flesh and drink His blood but that He claimed, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (Jn 6:51)
And on the matter of faith in Him, there is no compromise. As John told us, “Jesus was aware that his followers were complaining about it and said, ‘Does this upset you? What if you should see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before?” The Lord knew that there were some who did not believe. “Jesus knew from the outset those who did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. He went on, ‘This is why I told you that no one could come to me unless the Father allows him’. After this, many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him.” For Jesus, He was ready to let go of those who were not with Him in mind and heart. Unlike us, He did not compromise His message just to increase the number of disciples. We baptize even those without much faith in Christ simply because we want numbers. Jesus understands that faith in Him requires both grace and our cooperation. Hence, He said, “This is why I told you that no one could come to me unless the Father allows him.”
It was Peter who made that act of ultimate faith in Him on behalf of the Twelve. He made it clear that the words of Jesus spoken to them “are spirit and they are life.” Hence, when the Lord gave them an option, “What about you, do you want to go away too?” Simon Peter answered, “Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.” Faith in Jesus as the Holy One of God is critical.
It was this faith in our Lord that also made Peter’s ministry not just fruitful but an imitation of Jesus’ ministry of healing. Peter, like our Lord, not only preached but also performed miracles of healing. His faith in our Lord made it possible for him to act in union with the Lord in his ministry of teaching and healing. Indeed, preaching in the early Church was always accompanied by signs of wonders and healing. This is a clear reminder to preachers that words and deeds must always support each other if our words are to be credible. Effective teaching must be manifested in concrete signs, but the signs must be explained as the acts of God. Indeed, in both cases when Peter healed Aeneas and raised Dorcas, many believed and were converted.
In the first incident, in the healing of Aeneas, “a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years”, Peter said to him in words similar to Jesus’ healing of the paralytic at Capernaum, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ cures you: get up and fold up your sleeping mat.” The only difference was that Peter made it clear that he was not the healer and he did not have any special power to heal. It is the Lord who heals. As a sign of complete recovery and restoration, “Aeneas got up immediately.” As a consequence, “everybody who lived in Lydda were all converted to the Lord.”
In the second incident, Peter raised “a woman disciple called Tabitha” a woman known for her great charity, “who never tired of doing good or giving in charity. But the time came when she got ill and died.” St Luke again noted the similarity in the way Peter raised her from the dead and that of Jesus who raised the daughter of Jarius, one of the leaders of the synagogue. Just like Jesus, St Peter ordered everyone out of the room. He did not want it to be a show or something spectacular. Then, like Jesus who took the hand of the young girl and said, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” (cf Mk 5:41), Peter said “Tabitha, stand up.” Again, Peter showed his total dependence on God when he went down on his knees in prayer, asking the Risen Lord to raise the corpse back to life.
What is significant in Luke’s narration is that both miracles were performed not by Peter but by the Lord. Peter was conscious that he could not do any miracles, or that he had any healing power. It was his union with the Risen Lord and his consciousness that the Lord was with him as He was with them in His earthly ministry. And so with that intimacy and consciousness of the Lord’s presence, Peter healed in the name of the Risen Lord. It is a good reminder that those who have the gift of healing must never think that they are so powerful and above everyone else. It is the Lord who heals and the Lord who heals through us. We are called to be God’s healing hands and mouthpiece. The effectiveness of healing is also dependent on whether the healer is one with God in his life, words and deeds.
That it is the Lord who heals and restores is underscored also in the way the two miracles were described as salvific events. They were not just something spectacular or a mere physical healing and restoration. Peter, so confident of the power of Christ to heal, addressed the paralytic and the dead woman with the same word of command, “Get up!” which is the same Greek word used of God in raising Jesus from the dead. This is to indicate that the man’s recovery from paralysis and Dorcas’ resuscitation from death were both visible signs that the new life of our Lord given to them by the power of the His resurrection. In all the healing miracles of our Lord, as in the case of the paralytic, physical healing is but the expression of spiritual healing and faith of those who asked for help.
Finally, Peter gave all glory to God. A true preacher does not draw people to himself but to the Lord. All those who saw the miracles turned to the Lord. Clearly, the people heard the word, saw the signs and understood the signs were authentication of Peter’s preaching about the Risen Lord. So they believed and were converted. When we are in union with the Lord, then our ministry must follow, like that of John the Baptist, “For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” (Jn 3:30) Our ministry and preaching are ultimately to lead people to love the Lord and worship Him, not ourselves.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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