20240904 INFANTS IN CHRIST
04 September 2024, Wednesday, 22nd Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Corinthians 3:1-9 |
Neither the planter nor the waterer matters, only God, who makes things grow
Brothers, I myself was unable to speak to you as people of the Spirit: I treated you as sensual men, still infants in Christ. What I fed you with was milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it; and indeed, you are still not ready for it since you are still unspiritual. Isn’t that obvious from all the jealousy and wrangling that there is among you, from the way that you go on behaving like ordinary people? What could be more unspiritual than your slogans, ‘I am for Paul’ and ‘I am for Apollos’?
After all, what is Apollos and what is Paul? They are servants who brought the faith to you. Even the different ways in which they brought it were assigned to them by the Lord. I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God made things grow. Neither the planter nor the waterer matters: only God, who makes things grow. It is all one who does the planting and who does the watering, and each will duly be paid according to his share in the work. We are fellow workers with God; you are God’s farm, God’s building.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 32(33):12-15,20-21 |
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
They are happy, whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as his own.
From the heavens the Lord looks forth,
he sees all the children of men.
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
From the place where he dwells he gazes
on all the dwellers on the earth;
he who shapes the hearts of them all;
and considers all their deeds.
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
Our soul is waiting for the Lord.
The Lord is our help and our shield.
In him do our hearts find joy.
We trust in his holy name.
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
Gospel Acclamation | 1P1:25 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of the Lord remains for ever:
What is this word?
It is the Good News that has been brought to you.
Alleluia!
Or: | Lk4:17 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 4:38-44 |
He would not allow them to speak because they knew he was the Christ
Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked him to do something for her. Leaning over her he rebuked the fever and it left her. And she immediately got up and began to wait on them.
At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying his hands on each he cured them. Devils too came out of many people, howling, ‘You are the Son of God.’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.
When daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place. The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, ‘I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.’ And he continued his preaching in the synagogues of Judaea.
INFANTS IN CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-9; LUKE 4:38-44]
One of the common complaints and disappointment of our Catholics is the failure of priests, religious and their own fellow Catholics to live up to their faith in Christ. As a result, many are disillusioned with their faith, their church and community. They feel betrayed that their priests or religious did not display humility or compassion when they are in need. They cannot accept that fellow parishioners and ministry members are rude, inconsiderate, boastful and self-serving. This is why many are hurt by the Church. Some became so disillusioned with the sinfulness of the Church that they left.
What these people fail to recognize is that the Church is a community of sinners seeking to become saints. It is a hospital where people with all kinds of illnesses are seeking healing. The Church is a house of mercy where people seek solace, comfort and assistance. As the Lord said, “I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Lk 5:32) So the truth is that we are all at different levels of spiritual growth and depth, including priests and religious. Of course, for priests and religious, we expect them to be more exemplary in their Christian conduct. But the reality is that they too are human beings who came from different backgrounds. Some have made greater progress in spiritual life, whereas others have been tempted by the world because they have not made time for prayer. Sometimes the lack of spiritual life could be due to the many demands made on them in their ministry – often, too many social engagements which they feel obliged to attend. Hence, they also become nasty, impatient, angry, proud, arrogant and self-serving. If this is true for priests and religious, how much more our lay people who are so involved in worldly affairs, family life and community engagements!
This was what happened to the Christians in Corinth. We should not be surprised that the Church has never been perfect since the day it was established. It would be too idealistic to think that every Christian community is loving and caring. There will always be imperfections in any community because the members are not all of the same spiritual depth and holiness. Even the primitive church which we read in the Acts of the Apostles was apparently so caring and sharing, but it did not last long. There was Ananias and his wife who sold a piece of their property but “they kept back some of the proceeds and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” He was reprimanded for lying to the Holy Spirit and he fell down and died. (Acts 5:1-5) Then later on, we read how the Greek-speaking Christians found fault with the Jewish-speaking Christians because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. (Acts 6:1f) Indeed, St Paul had to contend with competitiveness, slander, false accusation, jealousy, parochial-mindedness, selfishness, etc. in every Christian community.
The reason is clear, as St Paul mentioned in the first reading – such Christians are still growing in spirituality in Christ. He said, “I treated you as sensual men, still infants in Christ. What I fed you with was milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it; and indeed, you are still not ready for it since you are still un-spiritual. Isn’t that obvious from all the jealousy and wrangling that there is among you, from the way that you go on behaving like ordinary people? What could be more unspiritual than your slogans, “I am for Paul” and “I am for Apollos”? Indeed, we cannot expect infants in Christ to behave like adult Christians. So many of us who are baptized are still infants; having only drunk milk, not solid food. Many of us think that having graduated from RCIA makes us adults in faith, which is sacramentally true, but unfortunately for most of us, our faith is weak and shallow. Many of our newly baptized, including our young people who are newly confirmed, are still very weak in faith. Faced with difficulties and challenges, they succumb to the temptations of the world and act like them.
So let us not be surprised that even in Church among active church members and clergy, there will be politics because some of us are very insecure and hyper- sensitive. We react to situations negatively because of the Old Adam in us. Like the early Christians in Corinth, we form factions. We divide the Church. We champion certain organizations and people that we like. We seek power and control. We want privileges. Indeed, we see unhealthy competition among church organizations for power, fame, privileges and positions.
We fail to see ourselves as one Church and that we are all fellow workers in God’s kingdom. We fail to realize that all of us, regardless which position we hold in the church, are assigned by God to perform a role for the body of Christ. Any success is due to the Lord alone and not our hard work. There is nothing for us to boast about. We should be humble that we are just doing the work of God. This was what St Paul wrote, “After all, what is Apollos and what is Paul? They are servants who brought the faith to you. Even the different ways in which they brought it were assigned to them by the Lord. It is all one who does the planting and who does the watering, and each will duly be paid according to his share in the work. We are fellow workers with God; you are God’s farm, God’s building.”
In today’s gospel, unlike the early Christians, Jesus was active in the ministry and inclusive in His mission. He came for His people. He preached in the Synagogue. He healed Simon’s mother-in-law when she was suffering from a high fever. He made Himself available to all who needed healing of one kind or another. “At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying his hands on each he cured them.” He even exorcised those who were possessed by evil spirits. “Devils too came out of many people, howling, ‘You are the Son of God’. But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.”
He was tempted like many of us to build our own kingdom. We read that “when daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place. The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them.” Truly, many of us who serve in organizations are unwilling to move on and let others take over from us. We are afraid to lose our position and influence. We are not willing to mentor others and to allow new blood to take over our place. We think we are indispensable and the best. In truth, we are insecure; we think that success is due to our hard work. We forget what St Paul told the Christians, “I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God made things grow. Neither the planter nor the waterer matters: only God, who makes things grow.”
But Jesus was not narrow-minded or parochial-minded. He would not allow politics and people to control Him and delimit His mission. So He told them in no uncertain terms, “‘I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do’. And he continued his preaching in the synagogues of Judaea.” Jesus remained focused in His mission. Even when He was fruitful and successful, He did not stay in one place to bask in His glory and fame. St Paul, imitating our Lord, also refused to build his own kingdom. He wrote to the Romans, “In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God. Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else’s foundation.” (Rom 16:17-20)
What is the secret for us to grow in Christian holiness? There is no other way except to follow Jesus and make our way to a lonely place to pray early in the morning before daylight. We must spend time with God in prayer, in contemplation of His love and mercy, meditating on the Word of God and examining ourselves, our motives and our life daily so that we can become more conscious of our thinking and feeling. Unless our hearts and minds are one with the Lord, we cannot be truly His ministers and be effective in our Christian ministry. Let us therefore desire to feed on solid spiritual food and not be contented with mere milk.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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