20250128 THE CALL TO SERVE THE FAMILY OF JESUS IN OBEDIENCE TO HIS WILL
28 January 2025, Tuesday, 3rd Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Hebrews 10:1-10 |
Christ’s self-offering sanctifies us
Since the Law has no more than a reflection of these realities, and no finished picture of them, it is quite incapable of bringing the worshippers to perfection, with the same sacrifices repeatedly offered year after year. Otherwise, the offering of them would have stopped, because the worshippers, when they had been purified once, would have no awareness of sins. Instead of that, the sins are recalled year after year in the sacrifices. Bulls’ blood and goats’ blood are useless for taking away sins, and this is what he said, on coming into the world:
You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation,
prepared a body for me.
You took no pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices for sin;
then I said,
just as I was commanded in the scroll of the book,
‘God, here I am! I am coming to obey your will.’
Notice that he says first: You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the oblations, the holocausts and the sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them; and then he says: Here I am! I am coming to obey your will. He is abolishing the first sort to replace it with the second. And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of his body made once and for all by Jesus Christ.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 39(40):2,4,7-8,10,11 |
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
I waited, I waited for the Lord
and he stooped down to me;
he heard my cry.
He put a new song into my mouth,
praise of our God.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings,
but an open ear.
You do not ask for holocaust and victim.
Instead, here am I.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
Your justice I have proclaimed
in the great assembly.
My lips I have not sealed;
you know it, O Lord.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
I have not hidden your justice in my heart
but declared your faithful help.
I have not hidden your love and your truth
from the great assembly.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:135 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Let your face shine on your servant,
and teach me your decrees.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt11:25 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 3:31-35 |
Who are my mother and my brothers? Those that do the will of God
The mother and brothers of Jesus arrived and, standing outside, sent in a message asking for him. A crowd was sitting round him at the time the message was passed to him, ‘Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you.’ He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking round at those sitting in a circle about him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.’
THE CALL TO SERVE THE FAMILY OF JESUS IN OBEDIENCE TO HIS WILL
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [HEB 10:1-10; PS 39:2,4, 7-8, 10, 11; MARK 3:31-35 ]
All of us are called to service in Christ. In a special way, we are called to serve the family of God, which is the whole of humanity but in a special way, the relatives of Jesus. How can we serve Jesus best? The truth is that many people want to serve in church ministry, but they want to choose how they like to serve and not where God wants them to serve. One wonders whether in the final analysis, the service we render is really to God or to ourselves.
If we truly wish to serve the Lord, then His true relatives are those who do the will of God. Jesus remarked, “Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.” We must desire to do His will in all things and only His will. In all that we do, we must seek to do the will of God and for His greater glory. True service is at the service of the other. It would be dangerous to make use of others whom we serve to satisfy our ego and needs. Hence, to serve God, we must make ourselves the victim of offering and not make others our bulls and goats.
The letter of Hebrews says, “Bulls’ blood and goats’ blood are useless for taking away sins, and this is what he said, on coming into the world: You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation, prepared a body for me. You took no pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices for sin; then I said, just as I was commanded in the scroll of the book, ‘God, here I am! I am coming to obey your will.'” This is what it entails, when we make our bodies a living sacrifice and say, “Lord! I come to do your will.” The letter to Hebrews says, “And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of his body made once and for all by Jesus Christ.”
As such, those who wish to serve God must discern properly the will of God and put His glory above all else. We must consider where the Lord needs us most and not what we think we like to do best. Indeed, we need to have an open ear to listen to His calling. The psalmist repeats the same truth. “You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings, but an open ear. You do not ask for holocaust and victim. Instead, here am I.” We must search for His will sincerely in all honesty.
How, then, do we know the will of God? Quite often, we hear people telling us, “The Lord tells me to do this and that.” How do we know we are hearing rightly or wrongly? The truth remains that the voice of God is normally expressed through your immediate superiors and/or through the community’s discernment. Consequently, if your decision contradicts that of your legitimate superior, most likely, it is not the will of God. Of course, the decision of the superior could be wrong, but God who is in charge of the situation can use that decision for the ultimate good of the person.
Another way to discern the will of God is always through the community. If we have a community with us, especially brothers and sisters who live in deep communion with the Lord and with each other, then discernment should take place within the community under the direction of the superior. The community as much as the superior must listen to the prompting the Spirit gives to each member of the community. The superior, after listening to the community, must then make a decision in accordance with the will of the Lord. Hence, for such communal discernment, all members must always live in communion with the Lord and also in communion with their superior and their community. Outside the community, the will of God is not found. The will of God is a communal discernment and that of the superior.
Throughout our ministry, we will always struggle between doing our will and God’s will. Will you put the will of God above yours? This will be our greatest temptation because of pride and rebellion in our hearts. Will you be obedient or will you want things your way? In most instances, we want to think that we are right and our superiors are wrong. We insist on having things our own way. Indeed, even in religious and priestly life, quite often the promise or vow of obedience is taken but not lived out in reality. It is taken by the candidate but the bishop and superiors are called to live the vow of obedience to their members!
Why the lack of submission to legitimate authority? This is because we lack faith. We are outside the circle of the family of Jesus. This is the intent of the evangelist when he noted that Jesus “looking round at those sitting in a circle about him, said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.'” Apparently, His relatives were outside the circle and hence did not have faith in Jesus as they wanted to bring Him home, suspecting that He was mad. Faith in our superiors demands trust in the power of God. Surrendering our lives into the hands of our superiors is madness indeed. But that was what Jesus did. He surrendered His failure into the hands of His Heavenly Father.
Secondly, we lack humility. To serve is to be a servant. Like all priests and religious, we are not only called to serve but we must serve humbly, like a servant. But we are all so influenced by the culture of individualism that we tend to do things our way. It is always my way, or no way. We always think we know everything and we have the right answer. We must have confidence in ourselves but let us not trust too much in ourselves. Pride is always self-serving and not serving others. Pride is self-will.
Thirdly, we fail to see the importance of accountability. The irony of the Catholic Church is that we always have the right doctrine and principles but we lack the practice. We all take the promise or vow of obedience but we don’t take it seriously. The devil wants us to have things our way. Obedience ensures that we have a soundboard and an external director to guide us so that we do not fall into presumption or be deceived by the devil. Obedience is what the world today calls accountability or transparency. Hence, obedience to our Superior or spiritual director prevents us from falling into the sin of pride and deception.
Fourthly, through obedience we preserve communion in mission. There can be no mission unless we accomplish in communion. The Church must be united in the one mission of Christ expressed in various ways. Authority is given to your Superior not to make your life difficult but to ensure that all work in communion for the greater good of the Church and not for one’s selfish and personal interests. We are here not to serve ourselves but God and His people, and in His way and not ours.
Hence, we never operate or work alone. We must always live in communion with the Lord by being in communion with our superiors and our community. Outside our community, we must be extremely discerning as the will of God is normally found within the community. The will of God is a communal discernment, that of your spiritual director, superior and your community, not just yours alone. We need to engage in open, sincere and fraternal dialogue so that we can discover the will of God for us in our mission.
So let us pray that we might cultivate the virtue of our Blessed Mother Mary in humility. She teaches us the way of docility in knowing and doing the will of God. She calls herself the handmaid, the servant of the Lord. Her will is that God’s will be done unto her according to His word. Such is the disposition of Mary in surrendering to the will of God. So we should be as well. If we follow the path of Mary and our Lord, we will never go far wrong. Let us put ourselves in the circle of Jesus’ family by desiring to do God’s holy will and not ours. Sometimes, superiors make mistakes but God will use their mistakes and ignorance for a higher purpose. He who writes straight in crooked lines will use that situation to fulfil His dream for you and His people. In this way, we will find peace and be blessed in all our undertakings. In His will is our peace.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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