20220430 DEALING WITH CHALLENGES FACING THE CHURCH
30 April, 2022, Saturday, 2nd Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 6:1-7 © |
They elected seven men full of the Holy Spirit
About this time, when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenists made a complaint against the Hebrews: in the daily distribution their own widows were being overlooked. So the Twelve called a full meeting of the disciples and addressed them, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the word of God so as to give out food; you, brothers, must select from among yourselves seven men of good reputation, filled with the Spirit and with wisdom; we will hand over this duty to them, and continue to devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word.’ The whole assembly approved of this proposal and elected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
The word of the Lord continued to spread: the number of disciples in Jerusalem was greatly increased, and a large group of priests made their submission to the faith.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 32(33):1-2,4-5,18-19 © |
May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just;
for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.
Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp,
with a ten-stringed lute sing him songs.
May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
For the word of the Lord is faithful
and all his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves justice and right
and fills the earth with his love.
May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord looks on those who revere him,
on those who hope in his love,
to rescue their souls from death,
to keep them alive in famine.
May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Rm6:9 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again.
Death has no power over him any more.
Alleluia!
Or: |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen, he who created all things,
and has granted his mercy to men.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 6:16-21 © |
They saw Jesus walking on the lake
In the evening the disciples went down to the shore of the lake and got into a boat to make for Capernaum on the other side of the lake. It was getting dark by now and Jesus had still not rejoined them. The wind was strong, and the sea was getting rough. They had rowed three or four miles when they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming towards the boat. This frightened them, but he said, ‘It is I. Do not be afraid.’ They were for taking him into the boat, but in no time it reached the shore at the place they were making for.
DEALING WITH CHALLENGES FACING THE CHURCH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 6:1-7; PS 33:1-2,4-5,18-19; JOHN 6:16-21]
The Church is not a building but the assembly of believers. It is a Christian community that gathers together in faith to share their faith stories, strengthen and support each other. The community not only speaks of God in words but also in actions. In the final analysis, the fruits of the gospel are found in a community that gathers together to share the Word, celebrate the Eucharist, celebrate life and care for each other regardless of rank and status as in the early Church. (cf Acts 2:42-47)
The Church can grow only when there is a sense of community. Right teaching and the celebration of the sacraments are not enough to sustain the unity of the community. Fellowship and sharing of life, faith and material goods underscore the concrete application of the gospel life. This explains why the faith of many of our Catholics is weak, because we lack fellowship, support and an attachment to our fellow Catholics. This is why many of us do not have a sense of belonging to the Church or are ready to stand up for the Church when she is under attack. There is a lack of loyalty to the Church. There can be loyalty only when one identifies himself closely with the Church. In our case, many Catholics are merely “outstanding” and “Retired Catholics” and thus many lack commitment to the Church.
Yet, we know that building a community is never easy. Most Catholics tend to be individualistic. We tend to walk alone. It is extremely challenging because everyone is different. We have diverse needs and preferences. We are endowed with different talents and skills. Our life experiences are different and this will determine and influence our perspectives. Our needs also vary. What is important for one group of parishioners is not important for another group. Indeed, trying to unite the community is always a great challenge, not just in corporate life but also in religious communities. In the secular world, they have the carrots of remuneration in terms of salary, promotion and perks. In the Church, we only have faith, mission and community. Unfortunately, all these are weak because the sense of community is weak.
This inner division has been present since the early Church. On one hand, the community was growing. On the other hand, with a growing community, it was difficult to get the community united. We read this in the first reading. There was a feeling of discrimination between the Hebrew Jewish Christians and the Greek- speaking Jewish Christians from the diaspora. They were squabbling over the distribution of food to the widows. Such misunderstandings, backbiting and comparisons were bound to happen because the Christians were not impeccable. Although they accepted Christ, not all were on the same level of faith and relationship with God. This is true in every religious community. There are some more mature and integrated than others. So keeping the members united as they grow in number is a great challenge.
This precisely is the challenge of the Catholic Church. As an individual Church, we are the largest in the world with more than 1.32 billion members. How to keep the Church united together at least in doctrines and in worship is already a great challenge, much less to keep Catholics in fellowship with each other! Whilst most Catholics do not belong to a faith community where they gather to share their faith, what has united the Church all these years is the hierarchical structure of the Church with the Holy Father as the symbol of unity of the Catholic Church and the bishop of the local church. Today’s first reading shows the development of the hierarchical structure of the Church with the establishment of the office of deacons. Gradually, this structure evolved to a three-fold presbyterial order of bishops, priests and deacons.
This three-fold hierarchical structure appeared to have worked well initially for the Church. In the first reading, the Twelve “called a full meeting of the disciples and addressed them, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the word of God so as to give out food; you, brothers, must select from among yourselves seven men of good reputation, filled with the Spirit and with wisdom; we will hand over this duty to them, and continue to devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word.'” Indeed, because they placed the Ministry of the Word and Prayer as priority without neglecting their care for the poor, “the word of the Lord continued to spread: the number of disciples in Jerusalem was greatly increased, and a large group of priests made their submission to the faith.” They knew their priorities.
However, over the years we have lost sight of our priorities. In our desperation for more priests, deacons and religious, the Church over time had not properly screened, selected and formed our priests, deacons and religious well. As a consequence, many priests and religious have caused the Church to lose credibility because of their scandalous way of life. In a very secular, materialistic, fragmented society, where can we find men and women “with good reputation, filled with the Spirit and with wisdom” to devote themselves selflessly for the service of the Church and the community? Finding good quality men and women to serve the Church is one of the most challenging tasks because of the shortage of vocations and the exacting demands of the ministry. Clearly, for the Church to continue to grow, worship, prayer and formation is critical, which is primarily the work of priests. But because of the demands of the ministry, many priests are too tired to give full attention to their spiritual life or to devote themselves to the ministry of the Word. They end up doing mundane things like raising funds, repairing the church, running programs for the poor. It is not that serving the poor and administering the church is unimportant but by so doing, it leaves the priests hardly any time for devout prayer, ministering, preaching of the Word of God and the celebration of the sacraments.
That is why today, more than ever, we need to rethink the role of the laity in the Church. Whilst having more permanent deacons may be a solution for some countries, what is actually needed is to have more lay people involved in the mission of the Church, whether as paid workers or volunteers. We need to empower our lay people who might not necessarily be ordained deacons but can do as much as our deacons in terms of teaching, instructing, empowering and building communities. Many of them are talented and have the resources of the world and the modern tools of communication to help and supplement the role of the clergy in forming the Church and ministering to our people. This is the key to renewing and empowering the Church. If the Church is lacking vocation, it is because our Catholics, especially the young, are not connected with the Church and with our Lord. But if we can renew the faith of our people, especially the young, there will be more vocations. I believe that empowering more laity to serve in the Church as full-time workers or volunteers will not diminish the priestly and religious vocation but enhance it further.
Today, let us find our focus in Christ. Indeed, we are facing many challenges from within and without. But as the gospel tells us, with Christ, even when the situation appears gloomy and dark, when there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel; or when we are buffeted by the storms and rough sea by the world’s anti-Catholic, humanistic, secularistic stance, we need to once again focus our eyes on the Lord. He is with us. Just as He told the disciples, “It is I. Do not be afraid”, so too, we can be assured that Christ’s promise that He will be with the Church until the end of time remains. In our struggles, we are reminded not to face the storms and struggles of life or of the challenges in the Church alone, but with Jesus. When we bring Jesus with us, the journey will seem much shorter for we read that upon seeing the Lord, “they were for taking him into the boat, but in no time, it reached the shore at the place they were making for.” So, let us take courage. Let us spare no effort in strengthening our community by renewing our priests and religious so that they can continue to empower our laity to work with them in building up our communities of faith so that together we can ensure that the Church grows in strength and not just in number.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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