20220612 COMMUNION IN MISSION AND MISSION IN COMMUNION
12 June, 2022, Sunday, The Most Holy Trinity
First reading |
Proverbs 8:22-31 © |
Before the earth came into being, Wisdom was born
The Wisdom of God cries aloud:
The Lord created me when his purpose first unfolded,
before the oldest of his works.
From everlasting I was firmly set,
from the beginning, before earth came into being.
The deep was not, when I was born,
there were no springs to gush with water.
Before the mountains were settled,
before the hills, I came to birth;
before he made the earth, the countryside,
or the first grains of the world’s dust.
When he fixed the heavens firm, I was there,
when he drew a ring on the surface of the deep,
when he thickened the clouds above,
when he fixed fast the springs of the deep,
when he assigned the sea its boundaries
– and the waters will not invade the shore –
when he laid down the foundations of the earth,
I was by his side, a master craftsman,
delighting him day after day,
ever at play in his presence,
at play everywhere in his world,
delighting to be with the sons of men.
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 8:4-9 © |
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
When I see the heavens, the work of your hands,
the moon and the stars which you arranged,
what is man that you should keep him in mind,
mortal man that you care for him?
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
Yet you have made him little less than a god;
with glory and honour you crowned him,
gave him power over the works of your hand,
put all things under his feet.
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
All of them, sheep and cattle,
yes, even the savage beasts,
birds of the air, and fish
that make their way through the waters.
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
Second reading | Romans 5:1-5 © |
The love of God has been poured into our hearts
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith we are judged righteous and at peace with God, since it is by faith and through Jesus that we have entered this state of grace in which we can boast about looking forward to God’s glory. But that is not all we can boast about; we can boast about our sufferings. These sufferings bring patience, as we know, and patience brings perseverance, and perseverance brings hope, and this hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Rv1:8 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
the God who is, who was, and who is to come.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 16:12-15 © |
The Spirit of truth will lead you to the complete truth
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I still have many things to say to you
but they would be too much for you now.
But when the Spirit of truth comes
he will lead you to the complete truth,
since he will not be speaking as from himself
but will say only what he has learnt;
and he will tell you of the things to come.
He will glorify me,
since all he tells you
will be taken from what is mine.
Everything the Father has is mine;
that is why I said:
All he tells you
will be taken from what is mine.’
COMMUNION IN MISSION AND MISSION IN COMMUNION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Prov 8:22-31; Ps 8:4-9; Rom 5:1-5; Jn 16:12-15]
Today, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, coinciding with the conclusion of the Diocesan Synodal Assembly. The Solemnity of the Holy Trinity offers us the direction of what is required for the Church to move forward. The thrust of the Diocesan Synodal Assembly is to bring the entire People of God together to share our faith experiences, our frustrations, fears, sadness; and also, our fruits of the apostolate, our aspirations and joys. In other words, we are focused on strengthening communion among ourselves and our communion with God so that we are able to accomplish our mission of building communion in our communities, society and the whole of humanity by reconciling them with God and with each other. St John Paul II wrote in his Apostolic Letter at the beginning of a new millennium, “Before making practical plans, we need to promote a spirituality of communion, making it the guiding principle of education wherever individuals and Christians are formed, wherever ministers of the altar, consecrated persons, and pastoral workers are trained, wherever families and communities are being built up.” (NMI 43)
How then do we foster a spirituality of communion? St John Paul II gives us the key. “A spirituality of communion indicates above all the heart’s contemplation of the mystery of the Trinity dwelling in us, and whose light we must also be able to see shining on the face of the brothers and sisters around us.” (NMI 43) Indeed, we are called to contemplate on the Holy Trinity so that we can draw strength and direction from our awareness of the mystery of the inner life of God which we are called to share. For Christians to profess their faith in God as the Blessed Trinity, it is more than just doctrinal declaration of the inner life of God as seen and expressed in salvation history. It is a call to imitate the life of the Holy Trinity.
To speak of the Blessed Trinity as One God, three persons do not really convey the essence and being of God which is indescribable. The truth is that when we say that God is three persons, we do not mean that there are three distinct intellects and wills. Otherwise, we end up with three Gods. When we say we are persons, however, what distinguishes us from another is that we have our own intellect and will. Rather, we are saying that God is one in mind and heart but within God’s being, there are three distinct ways of participating and expressing the oneness of God. The “person” is the way in which God’s being is grasped and expressed.
The scripture readings today illustrate the being of God in the economy of salvation in this manner. From the Book of Proverbs, we read of the distinction within God Himself, when Wisdom is said to be created. “The Lord created me when his purpose first unfolded, before the oldest of his works. From everlasting I was firmly set, from the beginning, before earth came into being.” However, this Wisdom is not a mere creature like the rest of creation. He came before creation. So already, the Old Testament did not directly speak of God as creating the world but through a mediator so that God is not seen as part of creation.
In the New Testament, this mediator is revealed as our Lord. Jesus is identified as the Wisdom of God and the Word of God. As St John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.” (Jn 1:1-3) In St Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he wrote, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all.” (Col 1:15f) This is what we mean when we say we are created in the image and likeness of God. We share in the life of God. The author of the letter to the Hebrews says, “He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.” (Heb 1:1-3) But Jesus is more than just an agent of creation, He is our saviour and redeemer as well through His sacrificial death on the cross.
In the gospel, Jesus speaks of the sending of the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in His name. Only in His passion, death and resurrection, could the Holy Spirit come and dwell in the hearts of each individual, leading us to the complete truth about God, understanding deeper the complete revelation given by our Lord’s life, passion, death and resurrection and most of all, leading us to sanctification in truth and in love. This is what the Holy Spirit will do for us, the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us.
Consequently, in proclaiming the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, instead of speculating how in God there could be one being and three persons, it is more important for us to grasp how we who are created in His image and likeness should reflect His inner life in our relationships with each other. Like the Holy Trinity, we are diverse in talents and ministries. The unity of the Church is not uniformity but diversity. There are different ministries and charisms which are the Spirit’s gifts to the Church. Every group, ministry, and movement, is important to the Church. Every member is important to the Church. We have heard the cries and the aspirations of the different groups of people who have shared with us in the synodal process. The Church must be inclusive and embrace the diversity of talents and charisms and attend to the needs of everyone so that together we can show forth the glory of the Trinity in us. The tricky part is, how we manage our priorities.
St John Paul II offers us his insights into what the spirituality of communion in the context of the Holy Trinity should be like. He wrote, “A spirituality of communion also means an ability to think of our brothers and sisters in faith within the profound unity of the Mystical Body, and therefore as ‘those who are a part of me’. This makes us able to share their joys and sufferings, sense their desires and attend to their needs, and offer them deep and genuine friendship. A spirituality of communion implies also the ability to see what is positive in others, to welcome it, and prize it as a gift from God: not only as a gift for the brother or sister who has received it directly but also as a ‘gift for me’. A spirituality of communion means, finally, to know how to ‘make room’ for our brothers and sisters, bearing ‘each other’s burdens’ (Gal 6:2) and resisting the selfish temptations which constantly beset us and provoke competition, careerism, distrust and jealousy.”
Indeed, the next step in our journey is to set up the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council. It is another structure that we intend to establish to foster unity. St John Paul II warns us “Let us have no illusions: unless we follow this spiritual path, external structures of communion will serve very little purpose. They would become mechanisms without a soul, “masks” of communion rather than its means of expression and growth.” Unless, we see the importance of accomplishing the mission of communion together, it will just be another white elephant. It is therefore critical that we must understand that all structures, whether Archdiocesan Pastoral Council or Parish Pastoral Council and all the other Archdiocesan Offices and particularly the Parishes work together, otherwise we will not be able to accomplish the mission of communion. As St John Paul II reminds us, “communion which begets communion is an indispensable condition for bearing fruit. Communion gives rise to mission and mission is accomplished in communion.”
Indeed, it is our hope that with this Synodal Process and Assembly involving the entire People of God, we have set the stage and the paradigm for future developments. There must be greater collegiality, dialogue, and co-responsibility. It is true that the Holy Spirit lavishes diverse hierarchical and charismatic gifts to the Church. There is certainly a distinction between the ministries derived from Holy Orders and that of the Laity. Whilst we must not forget that the ministerial priesthood is fundamentally ordered to the service of the entire People of God and that the Laity’s primary mission is to evangelize the world, we must not neglect or underestimate the contribution of the Lay Faithful in the Church.
The Holy Father is changing the structure of the Curia by appointing lay persons including women to positions of authority. By his decree in the apostolic constitution, Praedicate Evangelium, the right to governance is no longer restricted to the ordained ministry but can be given to any lay person as well because we are all co-responsible in the Church. It is no longer right to say that our laity are merely the collaborators of the Church. They are co-responsible and if so, they must be given some authority in governance and teaching. My hope is that the Church would be truly comprised of a joint co-responsibility of clergy and laity in the work of administration, governance, and formation of the People of God so that the mission to communion can be accomplished in communion. Without this, we would have missed the goal of this Synodal process in giving us the opportunity to renew, empower and strengthen our zeal and passion to spread the gospel. And this is why the Holy Father, and even in this archdiocese, is empowering more and more lay people in the work of governance and formation within the Church. In this way, the Church will become more efficient, accountable, credible, and united in mission.
Let us pray that this hope would be fulfilled because unless our clergy and laity work together and feel responsible for the Church and mission, we cannot speak of ourselves as one Church, one people of God. May we, clergy and laity continue to journey with each other in faith, in love, and in hope, walking together in constant dialogue and listening to each other so as to discover what the Spirit is speaking to the Church.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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