20250302 THE FRUITS OF RIGHT DISCERNMENT IN A SYNODAL CHURCH
02 March 2025, Sunday, 8th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Ecclesiasticus 27:5-8 |
The test of a man is in his conversation
In a shaken sieve the rubbish is left behind,
so too the defects of a man appear in his talk.
The kiln tests the work of the potter,
the test of a man is in his conversation.
The orchard where a tree grows is judged on the quality of its fruit,
similarly a man’s words betray what he feels.
Do not praise a man before he has spoken,
since this is the test of men.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 91(92):2-3,13-16 |
It is good to give you thanks, O Lord.
It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to make music to your name, O Most High,
to proclaim your love in the morning
and your truth in the watches of the night.
It is good to give you thanks, O Lord.
The just will flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a Lebanon cedar.
It is good to give you thanks, O Lord.
Planted in the house of the Lord
they will flourish in the courts of our God,
still bearing fruit when they are old,
still full of sap, still green,
to proclaim that the Lord is just.
In him, my rock, there is no wrong.
It is good to give you thanks, O Lord.
Second reading |
1 Corinthians 15:54-58 |
Death is swallowed up in victory
When this perishable nature has put on imperishability, and when this mortal nature has put on immortality, then the words of scripture will come true: Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin, and sin gets its power from the Law. So let us thank God for giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Never give in then, my dear brothers, never admit defeat; keep on working at the Lord’s work always, knowing that, in the Lord, you cannot be labouring in vain.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Or: | Ph2:15-16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
You will shine in the world like bright stars
because you are offering it the word of life.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 6:39-45 |
Can the blind lead the blind?
Jesus told a parable to his disciples: ‘Can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit? The disciple is not superior to his teacher; the fully trained disciple will always be like his teacher. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, “Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,” when you cannot see the plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother’s eye.
‘There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit. For every tree can be told by its own fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles. A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.’
THE FRUITS OF RIGHT DISCERNMENT IN A SYNODAL CHURCH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Ecclesiasticus 27:4-7; Ps 92:2-3,13-16; 1 Cor 15:54-58; Luke 6:39-45]
The scripture readings today provide us the criteria for discerning the will of God in our lives. This is particularly important if we are to be true to the gospel. Unless we are ready to put away sin, as St Paul tells us in the second reading, we cannot share in the life of our Risen Lord. Discernment of God’s will must also extend to the larger community of our organization, parish and the archdiocese. This is particularly true today if we want to be a Synodal Church, of which the Church is seeking to be under the Pontificate of Pope Francis. What does it entail to be a Synodal Church?
To rediscover the realities of the faith and life of our Catholics, we followed the Synod on the Synodal Church, the conversation of the Spirit. This requires us to suspend judgment when listening to each other. This is the first stage of the Synodal journey. In the gospel, the Lord cautions us about making too quick a judgment. He said, “Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,’ when you cannot see the plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother’s eye.”
Truly, we need to listen attentively with our entire being, try to feel and see from others’ perspectives rather than allowing our own past experiences to prejudice us from reaching out to people who feel or think differently from us. So having objectivity in listening remains something that we need to continue to practise until it becomes a way of life for us. St James reminds us, “Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness.” (Jms 2:19-21)
But this does not mean that we cannot make a judgment. At the end of the process, in all discernment journeys, we need to come to some kind of conclusion. So someone has to make a decision after hearing all the struggles and aspirations of those who participated in the Synodal process. How, then, do we judge and discern rightly? This is the theme of today’s liturgy on the question of a discerning heart.
Firstly, we must be careful that when we are dealing with matters of faith and morals, this requires the work of theologians and the decision of the magisterium. It cannot be decided based on the consensus of a group articulating their experiences and their aspirations. A case in point is the Church’s doctrine on marriage, gender and matters pertaining to the Sacraments, especially of the Eucharist and Holy Orders. Whilst it is important that the Church, as part of the process for discerning the Sensus Fidei, hears from the People of God the challenges and difficulties they are going through in living out the gospel in the situation they are in, yet it will not be right to compromise the Word of God so as to satisfy the popular desires and wishes of our people. Consequently, hearing out the experiences of the People of God is but the first and necessary step of the discernment process, but the judgment cannot be based on what people like today. It must be founded on the Word of God.
This is why the Lord also underscores the importance of following the true teacher. Jesus asked His disciples, “Can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit? The disciple is not superior to his teacher; the fully trained disciple will always be like his teacher.” We are all disciples of the Lord and we are called to be formed in His likeness. Our task is to become another Christ and be identified with Him in heart and mind. This is why a trained teacher must become like his master. To insist that the gospel bend to fit the popular trends in current lifestyle, especially when it comes to genderism, sexuality, marriage and the Sacrament of Holy Orders is to destroy the very foundation of the Church. Indeed, the Church would lose its foundation when marriage and the sacrament of Holy Orders are compromised.
Consequently, the final judgement on matters dealing with faith and morals cannot be the work of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Assembly but to those whom the Lord has entrusted His authority to, namely, the Pope and his bishops. Again and again, the Pope reminded us that the Synodal Process is not a parliamentary proceeding. It is not a matter of how the people vote, or even what the theologians say. Of course the sharing of the People of God, the work of the theologians are important contributions to the Bishops in their work of discernment as to whether such proposals are faithful to the constant teaching of the Church found in Scripture and Tradition. We must make a distinction between decision-making and decision-taking. This explains why Bishops share in the fullness of the priesthood and priests partake of the priesthood of the bishops. By so doing, the ordained ministers are to act in persona Christi capitis, that is, in the person of Christ as head. The Church is not above the shepherd, the true teacher, our Lord Jesus Christ. She is under the Word of God and Tradition that has been passed on to us. Ultimately, it is Christ who is the teacher that must be obeyed.
Secondly, when it comes to mere administrative matters, especially in areas of finance, information technology, operations not concerned with faith and morals, the professional advice of the laity must be taken seriously. There are of course other areas which are strictly pastoral decisions, which require both the inputs of the laity and the clergy. Even though these are of a pastoral nature, it is important that both laity and clergy must work together to provide the best pastoral approaches in dealing with concrete situations. On one hand, such pastoral decisions must be faithful to the teachings of the Church. On the other hand, we need to find practical solutions to help our laity cope with the demands of the gospel.
Thirdly, the Church must also consider those who are unable to live up to the standards of the gospel. Jesus reminds us of the intrinsic relationship between forgiveness and judgment. Pastoral decisions must consider the realities of our people in seeking to be true to the faith. We are reminded that the measure we use to judge others is the measure that will be applied to us. However, being merciful does not mean that we condone the sins of our people. Being an inclusive and welcoming Jesus does not mean that we welcome everyone and they can remain as they are without cooperating with the grace of God to order their lives according to the gospel. If that is the case, there is no reason for them to become Catholics. We cannot reduce the Church to a club house. Even when Jesus forgave sins and accepted sinners, He always warned them not to sin again.
So being welcoming and merciful means that although we condemn sin, we are also quick to encourage sinners toward restoration when they fall. Consequently, mercy is not being self-righteousness or being judgmental. Mercy does not take pleasure in pointing out the weaknesses or the sins of others, but it seeks to find a way to restore the situation. It does not seek to find fault with certain individuals but to find a better solution for the greater good of the Church. We should not be overly concerned with who is responsible for the current problems of the Church but rather, we must be quick to set up opportunities for sinners to repent and for the Church to reform herself. Being judgmental is to rejoice in pointing out the sins and failures of people but not helping in their restoration. Rather than leaving the sinner to live in sin, we must encourage the sinner to find the right path. So too in seeking for solutions to improve the pastoral program for the Church.
In the final analysis, what is of utmost importance is to ask whether our proposals are truly the will of God and faithful to the Word of God. Whether the pastoral initiatives will bear fruit or not depends on the sincerity of what we say and propose. Often in such discussions, people propose many things but when it comes to action or participation, they are not there. This is why we must take heed of today’s first reading from the Book of Proverbs where the sage reminds us to judge the fruit of what one says or claim to be. Just as “the defects of a man appear in his talk, the test of a man is in his conversation, similarly a man’s words betray what he feels.” Jesus also reminds us that “There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit. For every tree can be told by its own fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles. A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.” We need to be sincere in asking what we want the Church to do because we can give many grand proposals on paper but when it comes to involvement and participation, we are not ready to commit ourselves. Indeed, let us never forget that fine words will never take the place of fine deeds. Just talking and writing books alone cannot change the world unless we show by our lives and commitment to what we propose.
May we then continue to journey together as we seek to find the will of God for our archdiocese. The journey has not ended but the process continues to clarify what needs to be done in our archdiocese so that we can grow to be a vibrant, evangelizing and missionary Church that seeks to build the kingdom of God. Please pray for me, your shepherd to discern with honesty and to have the courage to do the right thing. It is our common hope and dream to make the Church in Singapore alive in the Spirit and truly a beacon in our society. May we truly become the salt and light of the world by our lives, words and deeds.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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