20250514 CHOOSING THE RIGHT PERSON FOR LEADERSHIP AND MINISTRY
14 May 2025, Wednesday, St Matthias, Apostle
First reading |
Acts 1:15-17,20-26 |
'Let someone else take his office'
One day Peter stood up to speak to the brothers – there were about a hundred and twenty persons in the congregation: ‘Brothers, the passage of scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit, speaking through David, foretells the fate of Judas, who offered himself as a guide to the men who arrested Jesus – after having been one of our number and actually sharing this ministry of ours. Now in the Book of Psalms it says:
Let his camp be reduced to ruin,
Let there be no one to live in it.
And again:
Let someone else take his office.
‘We must therefore choose someone who has been with us the whole time that the Lord Jesus was travelling round with us, someone who was with us right from the time when John was baptising until the day when he was taken up from us – and he can act with us as a witness to his resurrection.’
Having nominated two candidates, Joseph known as Barsabbas, whose surname was Justus, and Matthias, they prayed, ‘Lord, you can read everyone’s heart; show us therefore which of these two you have chosen to take over this ministry and apostolate, which Judas abandoned to go to his proper place.’ They then drew lots for them, and as the lot fell to Matthias, he was listed as one of the twelve apostles.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 112(113):1-8 |
The Lord sets him in the company of the princes of his people.
or
Alleluia!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
May the name of the Lord be blessed
both now and for evermore!
The Lord sets him in the company of the princes of his people.
or
Alleluia!
From the rising of the sun to its setting
praised be the name of the Lord!
High above all nations is the Lord,
above the heavens his glory.
The Lord sets him in the company of the princes of his people.
or
Alleluia!
Who is like the Lord, our God,
who has risen on high to his throne
yet stoops from the heights to look down,
to look down upon heaven and earth?
The Lord sets him in the company of the princes of his people.
or
Alleluia!
From the dust he lifts up the lowly,
from the dungheap he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes,
yes, with the princes of his people.
The Lord sets him in the company of the princes of his people.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Jn15:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I chose you from the world
to go out and bear fruit,
fruit that will last,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 15:9-17 |
You are my friends if you do what I command you
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘As the Father has loved me,
so I have loved you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments
you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.
I have told you this
so that my own joy may be in you
and your joy be complete.
This is my commandment:
love one another, as I have loved you.
A man can have no greater love
than to lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends,
if you do what I command you.
I shall not call you servants any more,
because a servant does not know
his master’s business;
I call you friends,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
You did not choose me:
no, I chose you;
and I commissioned you
to go out and to bear fruit,
fruit that will last;
and then the Father will give you
anything you ask him in my name.
What I command you
is to love one another.’
CHOOSING THE RIGHT PERSON FOR LEADERSHIP AND MINISTRY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 1:15-17, 20-26; JOHN 15:9-17]
How do we choose our leaders? How do we choose someone for ministry? In the first reading, St Luke recounted how the early Church had to choose someone to replace Judas who was one of the Twelve. It was important for the Church to maintain the Twelve as they were representative and symbol of the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel. They formed the new Church of Christ and the New People of God. So, citing from the book of Psalms, Peter said, “Let his camp be reduced to ruin, let there be no one to live in it. And again: Let someone else take his office.” The first citation is taken from Psalm 69:25 and the second citation from Psalm 109:8. Of course, these verses were taken out of their historical context but nevertheless it pointed to God’s confirmation of what the Christians were called to do. They perceived these texts anew in the light of the prompting of the Holy Spirit speaking through David.
So the first step towards searching the will of God is always to go back to the scriptures and read the Word of God in a spirit of prayer. We should not do an exegesis on the scripture texts at this point of time because we are not doing scripture study but that does not mean to say that we ignore the historical background of what we are reading. But more importantly, we need to have a conversation in the Spirit with the Lord, listening to how are hearts are responding to the Word of God, allowing the Word of God to be interiorized and seeking His inspiration at that particular point of time. In other words, using the method of lectio divina would be most helpful in listening to the Lord in the Spirit. That was what the apostles did when they reflected on the vacant position left from the group of the Twelve by Judas. In their prayerful search, they felt the Lord was asking them to find a replacement to complete the college of apostles.
Secondly, we must not only use our hearts but also our heads to search for the right person for the ministry. Following Peter’s leadership, the criteria were set out for the selection of a candidate to take the place of Judas. What was the most important criterion? St Peter said, “We must therefore choose someone who has been with us the whole time that the Lord Jesus was travelling round with us, someone who was with us right from the time when John was baptising until the day when he was taken up from us – and he can act with us as a witness to his resurrection.” In other words, an apostle is an ambassador of the Lord. He must therefore be a witness to the resurrection, otherwise he will not be able to teach confidently about the Lord’s death and resurrection, and His life and His teaching. So it must be someone who knew the Lord intimately, who had been following Him, listening to Him, observing how He interacted with the people and His Father; and most of all, witnessed His passion, death and resurrection. Without a personal witnessing of Jesus, we will lack the conviction to proclaim His passion, death and resurrection and His divine sonship.
This is also true today when we are choosing a Christian leader. The mistake of most churches is that we choose a leader today on the basis of his academic degree and his corporate skills, personal talents, his charism and his achievements. But we never examine whether he has a deep experience of the Risen Lord in his life, and the desire to share and proclaim Him as Lord and Saviour of all. Many of our Catholic leaders, and unfortunately even some priests and religious, lack this conversion experience. Consequently, their testimony is weak and their ministry is rooted in their knowledge, intelligence and eloquence. It is not spirit-led but merely human reasoning. Without a clear anointing of the Holy Spirit, it is difficult to be so passionate about our Lord and His gospel. This is why, St Paul considered himself as an apostle because of his own personal encounter with the Risen Lord. “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” (1 Cor 15:8f)
But it is not enough simply to have a personal conversion experience of our Lord. We must keep up with it. As the Lord said to His disciples. “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love.” No one can be a Christian leader without remaining in the love of our Lord, in His intimacy. Otherwise, we end up as His labourers in the vineyard, as workers, not as friends deeply in love with Him. Jesus said, “A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.” As workers, we are calculative. We work for a remuneration. But as friends, we collaborate with love and joy. The moment we become calculative in our ministry, thinking of the benefits and frills we get out of the service, we reduce our relationship with Him as mere workers. When the Church employs staff that are calculating and always thinking about their leisure time and their interests, the mission will not be fulfilled. Unless they are excited about the mission and excited to share the Christ that they are deeply in love with, they will not share with joy, passion and enthusiasm. It would be just fulfilling a duty, not accomplishing a mission.
It is in love that we become friends of Jesus and friends with each other. Jesus said, “You are my friends, if you do what I command you. I shall not call you servants anymore, because a servant does not know his master’s business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father.” When we are friends with Jesus, we know His heart. We know His will as well. Jesus in His mission always spoke of His union with His Father in mind and in heart. He always made it clear that “the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished.” (Jn 5:19f) So, we must choose leaders who are deeply in love with the Lord and see the Lord as their friend and master.
Jesus also gave us another criterion of selecting our Christian leaders for the ministry. It is not about how talented or eloquent one is, but whether the person has integrity, imbued with Christian virtues and obedience to the Word of God. Jesus told His disciples, “If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete.” Keeping His commandments means walking in His path, and living the gospel in our daily life. In a nutshell, the gospel is reduced to this, “This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you.” This is the ultimate gospel. It is not about being slavish in the observance of the laws in the bible but living out the commandment of love, loving the way Christ has loved us. Indeed, when Jesus commands us to go out and bear fruit, He said, the only “fruit that will last” is “to love one another.”
Finally, when all these criteria are met, we will still need to surrender the candidates to the Lord. Even if all these candidates meet the criteria, it does not mean that they are chosen for a particular ministry. Otherwise, there are many worthier and holier people who could have been chosen for the Sacrament of Holy Orders or for religious life. It is not always the case because the election is God’s sovereignty, not ours. Humanly, we can go through the logical selection of a Christian leader, but like the apostles after selecting the eligible ones, we must commend them to the Lord. We must once again hear what the Lord is asking of us, to choose one that He favours; not whether we like him or her or not. Our discernment is now at the level of the heart in a spirit of prayer, whether the Lord is calling him or her to the ministry or for Christian leadership.
At this juncture, we must act from our heartfelt prompting of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the Lord reminds us, “You did not choose me, no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last; and then the Father will give you anything you ask him in my name.” It is ultimately His choice. And so “having nominated two candidates, they prayed, ‘Lord, you can read everyone’s heart; show us therefore which of these two you have chosen to take over this ministry and apostolate, which Judas abandoned to go to his proper place.’ They then drew lots for them, and as the lot fell to Matthias, he was listed as one of the twelve apostles.” Docility to the Holy Spirit in sincere prayer is critical in finding the right candidate.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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