20211105 CONVERTING THE UNCONVERTED
05 November, 2021, Thursday, 31st Week, Ordinary Time
First reading | Romans 15:14-21 © |
My duty is to bring the Good News from God to the pagans
My brothers, I am quite certain that you are full of good intentions, perfectly well instructed and able to advise each other. The reason why I have written to you, and put some things rather strongly, is to refresh your memories, since God has given me this special position. He has appointed me as a priest of Jesus Christ, and I am to carry out my priestly duty by bringing the Good News from God to the pagans, and so make them acceptable as an offering, made holy by the Holy Spirit.
I think I have some reason to be proud of what I, in union with Christ Jesus, have been able to do for God. What I am presuming to speak of, of course, is only what Christ himself has done to win the allegiance of the pagans, using what I have said and done by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus all the way along, from Jerusalem to Illyricum, I have preached Christ’s Good News to the utmost of my capacity. I have always, however, made it an unbroken rule never to preach where Christ’s name has already been heard. The reason for that was that I had no wish to build on other men’s foundations; on the contrary, my chief concern has been to fulfil the text: Those who have never been told about him will see him, and those who have never heard about him will understand.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 97(98):1-4 © |
The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.
Gospel Acclamation | 2Co5:19 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
Or: | 1Jn2:5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Whenever anyone obeys what Christ has said,
God’s love comes to perfection in him.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 16:1-8 © |
The master praised the dishonest servant
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘There was a rich man and he had a steward denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. He called for the man and said, “What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer.” Then the steward said to himself, “Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes.”
Then he called his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, “How much do you owe my master?” “One hundred measures of oil” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond; sit down straight away and write fifty.” To another he said, “And you, sir, how much do you owe?” “One hundred measures of wheat” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond and write eighty.”
‘The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.’
CONVERTING THE UNCONVERTED
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Rom 15:14-21; Ps 98:1-4; Lk 16:1-8]
It is very significant that St Paul “made it an unbroken rule never to preach where Christ’s name has already been heard.” In saying this, we can appreciate that St Paul was a true missionary for Christ. He was clear about his vocation in life, which was to proclaim Christ to the Gentiles. This was what the Lord revealed to Ananias when he was asked to take in Paul. “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:15f) St Paul was very focused when he explained why he “had no wish to build on other men’s foundations.” His “chief concern has been to fulfil the text: Those who have never been told about him will see him, and those who have never heard about him will understand.” This is a citation from the Suffering Servant Song. (Isa 52:15)
St Paul’s task was to bring the gospel to those who had not heard of Christ. He wrote to the Corinthians saying, “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” (1 Cor 3:5f) But once the seed was sown, he would leave it to the elders of the community to continue to grow the faith that he had planted. Like Jesus, St Paul was conscious that he should not stay in one place. The Lord told the apostles who were searching for Him, “‘Let us go on to the neighbouring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.” (Mk 1:38f)
Secondly, St Paul was conscious of his priestly duty which he spelt out in missionary terms. “He has appointed me as a priest of Jesus Christ, and I am to carry out my priestly duty by bringing the Good News from God to the pagans, and so make them acceptable as an offering, made holy by the Holy Spirit.” Very often, we tend to make a distinction between the role of a priest to offer sacrifices and worship, and that of being an apostle or a missionary. We think that the work of evangelization is not a priestly work, and that the priestly work is confined to the offering of sacrifices, prayers and worship.
The truth is that evangelization is for the sake of worship and sacrifice; and true worship and sacrifice must lead to the work of evangelization. This is because a priest’s role is to sanctify the people by the power of the Holy Spirit and so make them a perfect offering to the Lord. Earlier on, he urged the Romans, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:1-3) Our task is to sanctify the people by announcing to them the Good News of salvation in Christ. Through the offering of themselves in worship and in charity, they are sanctified. Hence, the purpose of evangelization is sanctification, and those sanctified would carry on the proclamation of the Good News.
What are the implications for us? Firstly, we must be careful not to be too parochial-minded. The temptation of those in parishes and organizations is to be so focused on what they are called to do that they forget the larger purpose of their existence, which is to form missionary disciples. When parishes are more concerned with the maintenance of the church and their people, the parish will eventually die because of the lack of new blood and new members to regenerate the community. This is unfortunately what many parishes do, attending to their members, their congregation, but with a narrow view of getting them to contribute to the finance of the church and the operations, but they do not go beyond the call to form disciples for mission.
This does not mean that we can neglect our parishioners. On the contrary, if we intend to send them out for mission, then all the more, we want to train and form them well so that they will be equipped to spread the Good News of Christ. The motivation is not for the sake of maintenance of self-sufficiency but to empower them to be evangelizers and missionaries. This is why, whether a parish is growing or not is not to be measured by the size of the congregation, for that could be situational, but by the growth in the number of baptisms, priestly and religious vocations, full-time workers or volunteers for the Church’s mission and ministry, the number of parishioners attending formation classes, the small faith communities that are formed, and new organizations for outreach to the larger community beyond their parishioners.
Secondly, the truth is that we are not resourceful or adventurous in putting our energy, talents and resources into the spread of the gospel. Maybe out of fear, timidity or diffidence, at most we proclaim the gospel to fellow Catholics who are already members of the church, obviously with varying depth of faith. Of course, like Apollos, we have to nurture the seed that is planted, but we should not be limited to forming them only. There are many outside our fold that needs conversion as well. In the gospel, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” (Jn 10:14-16) We must venture out and see the larger picture, which is to bring the gospel to everyone beyond our parish, and even beyond our church. This Covid-19 Pandemic has made us realize that the Church can no longer confine herself simply to parishes with clear boundaries. The gospel is preached to all through the digital media and internet, which is accessible by everyone regardless of church, religion, or country. We are living in a trans-border world brought about by mass communication.
The gospel today confronts us to use our talents and resources well. The parable of the dishonest steward is a stark contrast for those who are working for the world and those who are working for God. When it comes to making money and profits, either for the organization that we work for, or for ourselves, we are always creative and resourceful. We give all our energy to what we do and find the most productive and effective means to secure our interests. This was the case of the dishonest steward. He was found to be wanting in managing the property of his employer and was facing termination of his work. Instead of just resigning himself to the eventual dismissal and be out of work, he was crafty enough to plan his exit in such a way that he could not be accused of cheating his master by offering discounts to the master’s debtors. At the same time, he made them feel obligated to him because of his generosity so that they would welcome and help him later when he was out of job. Such was the ingenuity of the dishonest steward that even the master was amazed at his resourcefulness. Even “the master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness.”
Now, the point of contrast is this, when the Lord remarked, “The children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.” Indeed, when it comes to our spiritual life, our growth in faith, in growing our parishes and in the work of mission, we do not invest the same passion, creativity, proactivity and imagination as those in the world. We keep on doing the same thing over and over again even when lifestyles, aspirations, challenges, and needs of our people have changed. We do not keep up with technology and study to make full use of what the world has provided for us to do outreach, formation and evangelization in a new way. We are not ready to change. When we are so set in our ways, then certainly it is not the fault of God because unlike St Paul who cooperated with God at work in Him through the Holy Spirit. “What I am presuming to speak of, of course, is only what Christ himself has done to win the allegiance of the pagans, using what I have said and done by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit.” We must be bold, and courageous, relying on the power of the Holy Spirit who will assist us as we give ourselves in faith to Him, not just using our own ingenuity but allowing the Spirit to work in us.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment