20150129 SHARING IN THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST BY LEADING OTHERS TO HIM

20150129 SHARING IN THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST BY LEADING OTHERS TO HIM

Readings at Mass

First reading

Hebrews 10:19-25 ©

Through the blood of Jesus we have the right to enter the sanctuary, by a new way which he has opened for us, a living opening through the curtain, that is to say, his body. And we have the supreme high priest over all the house of God. So as we go in, let us be sincere in heart and filled with faith, our minds sprinkled and free from any trace of bad conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us keep firm in the hope we profess, because the one who made the promise is faithful. Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works. Do not stay away from the meetings of the community, as some do, but encourage each other to go; the more so as you see the Day drawing near.

Psalm

Psalm 23:1-6 ©

Such are the men who seek your face, O Lord.

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,

  the world and all its peoples.

It is he who set it on the seas;

  on the waters he made it firm.

Such are the men who seek your face, O Lord.

Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?

  Who shall stand in his holy place?

The man with clean hands and pure heart,

  who desires not worthless things.

Such are the men who seek your face, O Lord.

He shall receive blessings from the Lord

  and reward from the God who saves him.

Such are the men who seek him,

  seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Such are the men who seek your face, O Lord.

Gospel Acclamation

Ph2:15-16

Alleluia, alleluia!

You will shine in the world like bright stars

because you are offering it the word of life.

Alleluia!

Or

Ps118:105

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your word is a lamp for my steps

and a light for my path.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Mark 4:21-25 ©

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under the bed? Surely you will put it on the lamp-stand? For there is nothing hidden but it must be disclosed, nothing kept secret except to be brought to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’

  He also said to them, ‘Take notice of what you are hearing. The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given – and more besides; for the man who has will be given more; from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away.’

SHARING IN THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST BY LEADING OTHERS TO HIM

SCRIPTURE READINGS: HEBREWS 10:19-25; MARK 4:21-25

http://www.universalis.com/20150129/mass.htm

After reflecting on the theology of the priesthood of Christ, which surpasses all others especially that of the Old Testament priesthood and sacrifices, what then are the practical implications for us? Is our understanding of Christ’s priesthood simply a doctrine, or have we come to grasp the full meaning of Christ as the High Priest for us?  Only by appreciating the priesthood of Jesus, can we then work out the implications of our belief and in our share of Christ’s priesthood.

To speak of Christ as our High Priest means that it is only through Him that we can come to the Father.  As the letter of Hebrews tells us, He is the way to enter into the Sanctuary of God.  “Through the blood of Jesus we have the right to enter the sanctuary, by a new way which he has opened for us, a living opening through the curtain, that is to say, his body.”  Through Christ’s death on the cross, we come to see the love of God for us and in Him we know that we are loved and forgiven.

To appreciate the sacrifice of Christ more deeply, we must link today’s reading with the offering of the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement in the Old Testament.  Unlike in the Old Testament where the high priest entered the Holy of Holies, which was hidden behind a veil, once a year on the Day of Atonement, Jesus had torn down the curtain that separated us from God.  We read that at the death of Jesus, “the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.” (Mt 27:51)   Unlike the high priest who would sprinkle the blood towards the place of the Ark of the Covenant signifying the flow of new blood and thereby purifying the people of Israel, Jesus, by His death on the cross, pours forth His precious blood and in that moment, “he gave up his spirit”.  Hence, through His death on the cross, He has purified our hearts by giving us His Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, we are brought into union with the Father.  This also explains why in receiving the Holy Eucharist, which is the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross and His body and blood, we receive the Holy Spirit as well.

Having received the Holy Spirit, we are now reconciled with God and in union with Him.  We have the confidence to approach God before His heavenly throne to ask for help.   With hearts free from guilt and self-condemnation, we can, as sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, come before Him knowing that He will hear our prayers.  Isn’t this what the psalmist is echoing when he says, “Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face. Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord?  Or who may stand in his holy place? He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain.”  Christ has purified us not externally with His blood but through the giving up of His blood, His Spirit is poured into our hearts.

In the light of what He has done for us, the author reminds us to “keep firm in the hope we profess, because the one who made the promise is faithful.”  Because of His death for us and His once and for all perfect sacrifice on the cross, we know for certain the love of God for us.  God shows His fidelity to us by dying on the cross for us.  By so doing, He reaffirms that His love for us is irrevocable.  Quite often the devil wants us to feel unworthy so that we would keep ourselves from God.  The trick of the Devil is to make us sin and then accuse us so that we feel condemned, not just before God or men but before our own eyes.  Satan wants us to hate ourselves so that we will fall into despair like Judas.  He does not want us to believe that God is merciful and that He will forgive us our sins the moment we turn to Him.  When our conscience condemns us, we will not be able to open ourselves to the love of God.  But now with His death, we can stand firm on our hope and on the promise of God.

We who have received the grace of forgiveness and the Holy Spirit at baptism must now be the priests of Jesus Christ by leading others to Him who is the throne of mercy.  The gospel commands us to be the light of Christ in the world. “Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under the bed? Surely you will put it on the lamp-stand?”  In the same vein, since Jesus is our Eternal High Priest, we must proclaim Christ to the world.  As His priests, we must be the bridge for others to come to Christ.  How do we do this?

As Christians, we must support each other in our faith.  Knowing how weak we are in faith and how easily we are tempted to stray from our Lord, we must, as the author reminds us, “be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works.”  We cannot be individualistic in the way we practice our faith. God wants all men to be saved and therefore we must be as much concerned about the faith of our brothers and sisters as much as our own.  We are our brother’s keeper in faith.  In fact, we influence each other for better or for worse.  When we are not concerned about the faith of our brothers and sisters, our faith invariably also weakens.  When we take care of the faith of our fellow Christians, we will also be strengthened in faith.

Indeed, it is important, as the author reminds us, “to stir a response in love and good works.”  We need to encourage each other in our spiritual life, and in works of compassion and mercy.  How can we empower each other in our spiritual life if not by being affirming and encouraging?  It is important that we proactively invite others to join us in whichever ministry we are in.  We must offer support to those who are just beginning to serve in the Church.

Most of all, we must come together more often as Christians to support each other, not just morally but in worship as well.  Hence, the author warns us, “Do not stay away from the meetings of the community, as some do, but encourage each other to go; the more so as you see the Day drawing near.”  We must invite fellow Christians to come for worship regularly and for formation talks so that they can grow in faith.  We are called to be Church.  No Christian can develop his or her spiritual life alone without the Church.  It is through the support of each other that we grow in faith.  When was the last time you invited someone to join you for worship or for a spiritual talk?

To think that we can do without the Church simply because we see failures in our fellow Catholics or even among Church leaders would be a great mistake.  By alienating ourselves from the Church, we will eventually also lose Jesus as well.  For how can faith grow without being fed by the Church, especially the Eucharist and the Word of God?  How can we grow strong in our faith if we do not meet up with others who can share their testimonies of what God is doing in their lives?

Of course, none of us is perfect and that is why we need each other.  We are all at different levels of spiritual growth.  To absent ourselves from Christian fellowship, whether at worship or meetings, is to deprive ourselves of the blessings of God coming through them.  Cut off from the body of Christ, we are left with only the Head.  Christ wants to come to us, whole and entire, Head and body.   More often than not, those who cut themselves off from fellow Christians are themselves sinners, self-righteous and intolerant of others.  It boils down to pride.  However if we recognize that we are all weak and sinners, we can then help each other to be purified in love and faith.  Christian love is precisely to love and edify those who are weak so that they can be strong.

So let us live out the priesthood of Christ by pointing others to Jesus.  Failure to exercise our priesthood would cause us to lose Christ as well, for Jesus warns us, “Take notice of what you are hearing. The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given – and more besides; for the man who has will be given more; from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”  Only by giving the faith away, can we retain what we have and more.  By keeping the faith to ourselves, hiding under the tub or bed, we will lose that little faith we have.

WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH

ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

20150127 THE CALL TO SERVE THE FAMILY OF JESUS IN OBEDIENCE TO HIS WILL

Readings at Mass

First reading

Hebrews 10:1-10 ©

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.

Psalm

Psalm 39:2,4,7-8,10,11 ©

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 ©

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; PSALM 39:2,4,7-8,10,11; MARK 3:31-35

http://www.universalis.com/20150127/mass.htm

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 as 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 then 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 of the 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, 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.’” 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 made.   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.   Let us put ourselves in the circle of Jesus’ family by desiring to do God’s holy will and not ours.   In His will is our peace. 

WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH

ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

20150128 GRACE AS THE BEGINNING, THE PREPARATION AND CAUSE OF WHO WE ARE

20150128 GRACE AS THE BEGINNING, THE PREPARATION AND CAUSE OF WHO WE ARE

Readings at Mass

First reading

Hebrews 10:11-18 ©

All the priests stand at their duties every day, offering over and over again the same sacrifices which are quite incapable of taking sins away. He, on the other hand, has offered one single sacrifice for sins, and then taken his place forever, at the right hand of God, where he is now waiting until his enemies are made into a footstool for him. By virtue of that one single offering, he has achieved the eternal perfection of all whom he is sanctifying. The Holy Spirit assures us of this; for he says, first:

This is the covenant I will make with them

when those days arrive;

and the Lord then goes on to say:

I will put my laws into their hearts

and write them on their minds.

I will never call their sins to mind,

or their offences.

When all sins have been forgiven, there can be no more sin offerings.

Psalm

Psalm 109:1-4 ©

You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.

The Lord’s revelation to my Master:

  ‘Sit on my right:

  your foes I will put beneath your feet.’

You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.

The Lord will wield from Zion

  your sceptre of power:

  rule in the midst of all your foes.

You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.

A prince from the day of your birth

  on the holy mountains;

  from the womb before the dawn I begot you.

You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.

The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change.

  ‘You are a priest for ever,

  a priest like Melchizedek of old.’

You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.

Gospel Acclamation

1S3:9,Jn6:68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:

you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

Or

Alleluia, alleluia!

The seed is the word of God, Christ the sower;

whoever finds this seed will remain for ever.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Mark 4:1-20 ©

Jesus began to teach by the lakeside, but such a huge crowd gathered round him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there. The people were all along the shore, at the water’s edge. He taught them many things in parables, and in the course of his teaching he said to them, ‘Listen!, Imagine a sower going out to sow. Now it happened that, as he sowed, some of the seed fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground where it found little soil and sprang up straightaway, because there was no depth of earth; and when the sun came up it was scorched and, not having any roots, it withered away. Some seed fell into thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no crop. And some seeds fell into rich soil and, growing tall and strong, produced crop; and yielded thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.’ And he said, ‘Listen, anyone who has ears to hear!’

  When he was alone, the Twelve, together with the others who formed his company, asked what the parables meant. He told them, ‘The secret of the kingdom of God is given to you, but to those who are outside everything comes in parables, so that they may see and see again, but not perceive; may hear and hear again, but not understand; otherwise they might be converted and be forgiven.’

  He said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? What the sower is sowing is the word. Those on the edge of the path where the word is sown are people who have no sooner heard it than Satan comes and carries away the word that was sown in them. Similarly, those who receive the seed on patches of rock are people who, when first they hear the word, welcome it at once with joy. But they have no root in them, they do not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, they fall away at once. Then there are others who receive the seed in thorns. These have heard the word, but the worries of this world, the lure of riches and all the other passions come in to choke the word, and so it produces nothing. And there are those who have received the seed in rich soil: they hear the word and accept it and yield a harvest, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’

GRACE AS THE BEGINNING, THE PREPARATION AND CAUSE OF WHO WE ARE

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Heb 10:11-18; Mk 4:1-20

http://www.universalis.com/20150128/mass.htm

This famous parable of the Sower is often interpreted as one’s response to God’s Word, which is dependent on the depth and quality of one’s soul.   Such an interpretation is valid.  But is this the interpretation comprehensive enough?  Undoubtedly, such an interpretation is influenced by the primitive Church.  Today, exegetes are in agreement that the explanatory part of the parable does not come from Jesus Himself. Hence, in order to understand why this interpretation is given, we must call to mind the question that was facing the early Christian Church.

The situation was simply that some of their members were falling away in spite of the fact that they have been baptized and therefore have received God’s Word.  The implication seems therefore that the Word of God is not efficacious.  But such an implication would not do justice to their faith in the power of God’s Word.  Thus the theological reflection of the early Christians concluded that if some members have fallen away, it was not because God’s Word is inefficacious but because they have not been docile to the Word or they have been distracted by the world and its pursuits.

Having said this, now we can try to identify ourselves with the parable in today’s gospel.  Firstly, we are told that the farmer goes out sowing.  The meaning is clear.  It is our experience that God gives His grace freely to all.  He takes the initiative in reaching out to us.  In other words, therefore, whatever we have comes from the grace of God.  It is His grace that makes us what we are today.  Yes, the point of the parable is that everything is simply because of the sheer grace of God.  This is the fundamental point of the parable.

Secondly, we are told that the seeds fell on different kinds of ground.  Some fell on foot-path; others on rocky ground, some among thorns and some on good soil.  Now this part of the parable can be misinterpreted.  There is a potential danger here of allegorizing the ground as the situation which makes our response to the Word of God possible.

Indeed, some of us might argue why God does not make us good ground for the seed.  No one wants to be a foot-path to be trampled upon, or be thorns to others, or be so rocky and heartless.  No we all want to be that fertile soil for growth to take place.  But the truth is sometimes we have no choice.  We do not choose the ground that we want to be.  We might have been born into a broken family where God is simply not experienced; we might have been placed in situations where excessive demands are placed upon us by our family, our superiors or society; we might have suffered many personal crises that hardened us towards life and love.  Does not this sound more like being predestined to doom and even hell? Here again, we seem to contradict the universal grace of God which is given to all.

Thus, we cannot over-emphasize the situations as determining our response to the Word of God.  Such a line of thought can lead to a total shirking of our personal responsibility to the Word of God.  Thus, we can make scapegoats of our failure by either attributing it to the inefficacy of the Word of God or that we do not have the grace to be receptive to the Word.  This could perhaps be what some of the early Christians who have fallen away from the faith said, and what some of us today would use also to justify our lack of faith.

So let us be clear, everything is the grace of God.  Even the kind of ground that we are given to be is also the grace of God.  This is what the early Church wanted to say.   The real problem lies in our disposition in responding to His love, regardless of the kind of situations we are in.  The emphasis is not on what kind of ground we are but the response that we make.  Of course, certain situations would be apparently more difficult than others.  But that does not mean that grace is totally lacking in enabling us to respond positively. That is why we have seen how grace has always worked in surprising ways.  Not all those who come from good families, for example, turn out to be good priests; and not all those who come from broken families turn out to be bad priests.  Thus, the situation is secondary.

What is primary is whether we are willing to allow God to take control of our lives.  The answer lies on our side.  This is the answer of the early Church.  But here again, we cannot over-emphasize our human response.  It smacks of an over-exaggeration of the role of human effort.  The truth is that we are not equal partners with God.   God remains infinitely much more than what we can offer.  Hence, we must complete the interpretation of this parable by saying that our response itself is also the grace of God.  Yes, grace begins our salvation when the seed is sown; the ground to some extent prepares our salvation; but His grace never fails to assist us in making that response.  Consequently, we hold that grace begins, prepares and assists us to respond to God.  This is the essential meaning of the parable.

WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH

ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED