20220603 THE PRIORITY OF LOVE OVER MINISTRY
03 June, 2022, Friday, 7th Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 25:13-21 © |
'I ordered Paul to be remanded until I could send him to Caesar'
King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea and paid their respects to Festus. Their visit lasted several days, and Festus put Paul’s case before the king. ‘There is a man here’ he said ‘whom Felix left behind in custody, and while I was in Jerusalem the chief priests and elders of the Jews laid information against him, demanding his condemnation. But I told them that Romans are not in the habit of surrendering any man, until the accused confronts his accusers and is given an opportunity to defend himself against the charge. So they came here with me, and I wasted no time but took my seat on the tribunal the very next day and had the man brought in. When confronted with him, his accusers did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected; but they had some argument or other with him about their own religion and about a dead man called Jesus whom Paul alleged to be alive. Not feeling qualified to deal with questions of this sort, I asked him if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem to be tried there on this issue. But Paul put in an appeal for his case to be reserved for the judgement of the august emperor, so I ordered him to be remanded until I could send him to Caesar.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 102(103):1-2,11-12,19-20 © |
The Lord has set his sway in heaven.
or
Alleluia!
My soul, give thanks to the Lord
all my being, bless his holy name.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord
and never forget all his blessings.
The Lord has set his sway in heaven.
or
Alleluia!
For as the heavens are high above the earth
so strong is his love for those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west
so far does he remove our sins.
The Lord has set his sway in heaven.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord has set his sway in heaven
and his kingdom is ruling over all.
Give thanks to the Lord, all his angels,
mighty in power, fulfilling his word.
The Lord has set his sway in heaven.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Jn14:26 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Holy Spirit will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 21:15-19 © |
Feed my lambs, feed my sheep
Jesus showed himself to his disciples, and after they had eaten he said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?’ He answered, ‘Yes Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He replied, ‘Yes, Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Look after my sheep.’ Then he said to him a third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was upset that he asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and said, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.
‘I tell you most solemnly,
when you were young
you put on your own belt
and walked where you liked;
but when you grow old
you will stretch out your hands,
and somebody else will put a belt round you
and take you where you would rather not go.’
In these words he indicated the kind of death by which Peter would give glory to God. After this he said, ‘Follow me.’
THE PRIORITY OF LOVE OVER MINISTRY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 25:13-21; PS 103:1-2,11-12,19-20; JN 21:15-19]
Many of us understand the importance of service to God and our fellowmen in order to find life. As the Lord said, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For 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 16:25f) Jesus also reminded the apostles, “whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mt 20:26-28) Indeed, those of us who are involved in public service or voluntary service to the Church, community, and especially to the poor often find fulfilment knowing that we have touched lives or made a difference in the lives of others.
However, there is a great temptation for Christians who desire to serve the Lord to place emphasis on service rather than loving God. Some of us place so much emphasis on talents, hard work, strategy, communication skills, media outreach, techniques and methods that these become the focus. We make the Church like a big business corporation running it on the same values of the secular world. When that happens, success, power, control and productivity become the determining factors in ministry. Such service and ministry will not lead us to God but ourselves.
They will not lead others to God because our hearts remain self-centred and broken. We are not healed from within. We are so focused on serving well and doing right so that people will admire us or praise us for our good works and organizing ability. It is ironical that those who are supposedly doing compassionate work sometimes lack compassion in the way they serve the poor and the vulnerable. Then there are those who supposedly serve the Church, the community and organizations but are rude, impatient, legalistic, heartless and ruthless in carrying out their duties. How can the aspects of love, compassion, humility and sensitivity be missing from Christian service? This is because some think that service is a job or a project to be completed or an achievement.
This was the case of the apostles. They were concerned about their ambition, about being seated on the right and left hand of our Lord when He came into His kingdom. They were ever ready to die for Jesus, so they said. Thomas said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (Jn 11:16) Peter said to Him, “Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.” (Mt 26:33) When Jesus was arrested, “all the disciples deserted him and fled.” (Mt 26:56) This was because they were not truly motivated by love and service but by rewards and power. They still had much to learn, to be purified of their arrogance, self-centeredness and worldly understanding of God’s kingdom.
The passion and death of our Lord brought them to realization. When service is driven by ambition, it will not last. This is because when we do not get results, appreciation or recognition, we will give up what we are doing. Perhaps, this explains why there is a high turnover in Church organizations and charitable institutions as well. Many come and many leave. There is a high level of resignations because of political infighting for power, position and control. There is a lack of charity among members and even those whom they serve. Like the apostles, we are competing to see who is better and greater.
The Lord wanted to purify the motives of Peter and the apostles. In today’s gospel, Jesus once again revealed the helplessness of the apostles without Him. They were going out fishing but they had no catch; until the Lord appeared and told them to put down the nets and there was a big catch. With the Lord, they will be successful. Without Him, they can do nothing as the Lord told them before in His parable of the Vine and the Branches. (Jn 15) He invited the apostles to fellowship with Him by breaking bread for them. It was a symbol of the Eucharist, that unless the apostles received the Lord in the Eucharist, they would not have life in Him. It is through the Eucharist that they will be in intimacy with the Lord.
But that was not all, the Lord had to restore the leadership of Simon Peter, now called son of John. The Lord did not call him, Peter, which means the rock, because he failed as the rock of the apostles. He did not stand firm on his faith and for our Lord. Just like the rest, he denied the Lord. He was no better than them and therefore did not deserve to be a leader. He needs to be restored in his leadership. This explains why the Lord chose a setting that reminded him of his failure in humility by having the breakfast over a charcoal fire early in the morning, for that was the scene when he denied Jesus before some servants and a bystander.
Instead of relying on his strength, his ambition and being presumptuous of his fidelity to Christ, the Lord went back to the heart of service and ministry, which is the love for Him. He asked Simon Peter, three times, “Do you love me?” He did it in different ways, which scholars debate whether the Greek words “philo” and “agape” that were used described the different levels of love that Peter had for our Lord. Peter could only love Jesus as much as he could love. He was no longer presumptuous as he was before in professing his love and loyalty to the Lord after his failure. Peter was humbled and came to realize that loving Jesus is not a matter of one’s strength and will alone but he needed the grace of God. This is true in our commitments to the Lord. We can only desire to love and serve our Lord with total devotion even unto death, suffering with Him, but we will never know until we are tested. So too, in marriage. A couple can profess their love for each other unto death do them part, yet such faithful and loving commitment will only be known when they celebrate their diamond jubilee together.
Nevertheless, unless we love our Lord, He will not entrust the flock to us. Peter was asked to feed the lamb and the sheep and to look after them only after his profession of love. Jesus knew that the path to ministry is difficult. There are too many naïve people thinking that those of us who are priests, religious or people working in the church full-time are having an easy life because we are doing God’s work. Or that we just pray and write or give talks about Jesus and the scriptures. They do not realize that the real challenge is not just the ministry but the difficulties of dealing with politics in the office, the organizations and Christian community. There will be difficult and different personalities. There will be strong disagreement in work and strategy. We have to deal with wounded people, those hurting and hurting others in the community. These will take up much of our energy even when we seek to serve the Lord. At times, as individuals, we need to deal with our insecurity, frustrations, loneliness and the lack of appreciation of what we do.
Indeed, Peter was restored to leadership only after re-examining his love for the Lord. He came to realize that the love of God must have primacy in our ministry. The foundational principle is that before everything else, even before desiring to serve our Lord, we must love Him with all our heart. We must be wary of those who want to be priests, or religious, or to serve in the Church, who think that they are the saviours of the world, and that they can do this and that. It will not be because they are doing for our Lord but for their own self-interests and ego. We must ask ourselves when we are serving the Lord whether we love Him above everything else, our loved ones and our “boats and fish.” This is the supreme question we must ask. Unless loving God is the highest priority in our lives, ambition, pleasure, power, money and glory will be the factors that drive our service for God and the Church.
Of course, loving God must begin with making ourselves available for God to love us. We cannot love God unless He first loved us. Israel was commanded to love God with all their heart, soul and strength (Dt 6:4f) only because she had experienced the liberating love, mercy and power of God. This is where Peter was restored back to his love for the Lord. Jesus showed His love for him by coming to him, showing him where to get a big catch, having a meal with him, fellowshipping with him, and then affirming him in his role as a leader. So too, we must come to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, soaking ourselves in His love and mercy.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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