APPRECIATING THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON AS A PRE-REQUISITE FOR PROCLAIMING OUR DIVINE CALLING

SCRIPTURE READINGS:  SiR17:1-15; Mk 10:13-16

The liturgy invites us to reflect on the dignity of the human person and his spiritual calling.  What is the basis of his dignity? It rests on the fact that we are created in the image and likeness of God.  This divine calling to share in God’s life makes every human soul precious, regardless of race, status and religion. Man is more than a material being.  He has an element of the transcendence in him.  This idea is contained in the first reading where man is called to share in the creative work of God and His authority over creation. This presupposes that man has the gift of intellect and freewill.  These two faculties enable man to transcend the material world and live in the spirit.  Pope John Paul expounded on this clearly in his encyclical Redemptor Hominis.

Jesus too, emphasized the dignity of every human person by welcoming the little children, thought to be insignificant by society at that time and perhaps even today. Adults tend to think that children have nothing to teach them, which is far from the truth!  In fact, if you want to know the truth about anything, ask the children and they will tell you the plain truth without using any politically correct language!  Children can teach us the value of life, love, and most of all, a sense of awe, appreciation and wonderment about life and creation.  This is an important reminder to us, especially in our modern mentality where we tend to gauge the value of a person in terms of his productivity and economic value to the world, instead of recognizing the intrinsic value of his dignity that comes from the very fact that he shares in the life of God.

Conscious of this divine life in us, we must therefore be promoters and champions of the culture of life, against the current culture of death.  Only a greater awareness of the divine image in us can lead us to a deeper appreciation of the call to guard every human life from being destroyed, abused or diminished.  This is particularly rampant in our modern society, where in our zest to champion the rights of adults, the rights and dignity of babies, underprivileged children and the elderly are overlooked, disregarded and trampled. Those who advocate abortion and euthanasia, apparently in the name of love, compassion and freedom, do so purely out of selfishness, because to protect the unborn and the helpless would require sacrifices on their part. We must also never forget the social mission of the Church in her preferential option for the poor; the defence of human rights; the promotion of justice and peace; and the freedom of religion.

Of course a qualification must be made with regard to freedom and equality.   Equality in dignity is not tantamount to equality in functions.  Equality extends to basic human rights with respect to food, accommodation, work, life and freedom. We must avoid a false demand for equality as demonstrated in an exaggerated demand for equality in sexes and same sex union.  Those who clamour for equality between men and women with respect to every area of life fail to distinguish the different functions of men and women in society according to their biological, physiological, physical and emotional endowment.  God created us differently, male and female, to complement each other in creation.  Thus, those who demand same sex union fail to recognize the purpose and nature of creation as intended in the plan of God.

However, for those of us who appreciate the dignity of every human life, we can proceed to contemplate on the deeper level of the divine calling of every human person, which is to sonship in Christ. On the first level of our relationship with God, such a relationship is true for all, regardless whether we are believers or not.  But this first level of our dignity as persons must rise to a higher level of divine sonship in Christ.  Indeed, we are all called not just to be persons but to relate to Christ as our brother, and to the Father as His children.  Our greatest dignity is to share in the life of God, the life of pure love.  This explains why in many Catholic countries, instead of celebrating their birthday, Catholics celebrate their feast day or baptism day, since physical life without divine life is not yet the fullness of life.  Unfortunately, many of us never consider the need to grow in the likeness of God.  We are just contented to be created in His image.  In fact, we treasure more our physical life, having all the material things of this world, and being popular and successful in life than whether we are sharing in the life of God now and in the world to come.

Hence, in welcoming the children, Jesus in the gospel was not simply teaching us the dignity of everyone, but that we are called to acquire the virtues of a child of the kingdom.  This was clearly lived out in Jesus’ own life of sonship; expressed in a life of faith, obedience and surrender to the will of the Father.  Indeed, to be true children of God, we must acquire the childlikeness of trust, obedience, forgiveness and total dependence on Him.  In this way, we see how nature is perfected by grace.  Human nature is the gift of creation, but divineship affiliation is by grace.  Together, we come to share in the life of God even though we remain human.

The implication for us all in the light of the above reflection is that before we can bring God to other people, it is necessary that we first and foremost cultivate a true esteem for human life.  If we do not see the value of human life, how can we be sincere in wanting to serve their spiritual needs?  Only by attending to their human needs can we then speak about God and the values of the kingdom to them.  Hence, one who is unconcerned for the poor, the marginalized and the weak will not have the heart of Christ in ministering to His fellowmen.  We need to examine ourselves, how much we love humanity, how much we have given ourselves materially and personally to help the poor.  The gospel warns us that Jesus would be as indignant with us as He was with the disciples who ignored and prevented the little ones, that is, those who are weak and helpless in society, from receiving His love through us.

Truly, unless we love humanity, we will have no zeal for the work of evangelization, since the latter demands that we bring the Good News both in word and deed to the people of the world, helping them to live dignified and spiritually upright lives. Let us pray that as we contemplate on the gift of life, especially the dignity of man, we too will grow to appreciate our divine calling as children of God.

Written by Most Rev Msgr William Goh
Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
___________________________

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Catholic Spirituality Centre Singapore

Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections

1. Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
2. Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
3. It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.

COMMUNION AND PASSION

SCRIPTURE READINGS:QO 6:5-17; MK 10:1-12 

We all need friends and intimacy.   We are created for love and to love.  We are social beings and are called to relationships.  To find a friend is the greatest joy.  This is what the reading from the book of Qoheleth says.  “A faithful friend is a sure shelter, whoever finds one has found a rare treasure. A faithful friend is something beyond price, there is no measuring his worth. A faithful friend is the elixir of life, and those who fear the Lord will find one.”  Indeed, what greater joy is there than to find a friend who is our helpmate, confidante, and soul mate.

Of course the height of intimacy is to find a friend in your spouse.  Married love is the highest form of intimacy between two human persons.  As Jesus says, “This is why a man must leave father and mother, and the two become one body.  They are no longer two, therefore, but one body.  So then, what God has united, man must not divide.”   This unitive property of marriage is underscored by the teaching of indissolubility and fidelity in marriage.   The reason why marriage is indissoluble is to protect the communion between the couple in marriage so that they will work towards communion between themselves, especially in times of trial.  Couples are called to be helpmate and companions to each other.

But the Church also teaches in opposition to what the world is saying today, that every marriage must be open to procreation, that is, to generate new life.  Marriage cannot be reducible to mere companionship.   True love, in other words, must go beyond the couple.  It must become life-giving to others.  Married love is destined for family life.  It is not only for companionship but for the procreation of life.  This is the biggest mistake of the world today because of selfishness.  When love stays within itself, it will die.  True love will always reach out to others.   Children precisely are the fruit of that love.  And the hope of children is to partake of the love of their parents.  In turn they become witnesses of love and bring others to share their love.

What has marriage go to do with my episcopacy, this inaugural mass and by extension, my fellow brothers who share the priesthood with me?  The primary mission of the Church is to be the sign and sacrament of unity of the whole human race.  Our task is to invite everyone into communion with each other through our communion with the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.  Our mission is to build communion in the world by building a family of families, namely, the family of God.  If our task is to build communion, necessarily we need to ask what the basis for communion is.

For us Christians, as the body of Christ, particularly priests and religious, who is our spouse if not Christ, since He is the bridegroom and the Church is His bride?  Necessarily, the primary foundation of communion and building communion is intimacy with the Lord.  The book of Proverbs says “Whoever fears the Lord makes true friends, and as a man is, so is his friend.” In other words, if I were to be a true friend to others and a builder of love, I am called to love Christ first.   Intimacy with Him is the source and bedrock of our ministry.  As Pope John Paul reminds us in the Apostolic letter, “Novo Millennio Ineunte”, holiness founded in contemplation and prayer is the foundation of all pastoral planning.   From Him alone we find passion for ministry.  So renewal of the Church must begin with prayer and contemplation on the Lord, especially for all Church leaders, clerical or lay leaders, full time in the ministry or volunteers.  Leaders must first fall in love with the Lord before we can speak of mission. We are called to be shepherds, not CEOs running a corporation.  We must first acquire the compassion of Christ before we can speak of evangelization, the proclamation of the Good News.

But we are also called to love the Church as our spouse, since as priests particularly; we share in the fullness of the priesthood of Christ through the Bishop.  We are called to love the Church with our entire being and life.  That is why priests and religious are called to give up their life for the Church, to love the body of Christ like our spouse, like a man who loves his own body.  We are called to do everything for the sake of the Church of Christ, putting aside our own personal interests and agendas.   Like the Good Shepherd my priests and I are called to give life. Like the creative aspect of marriage, we must do everything to give life.  My motto, “Ut Vivant! That they may live!” says it all.   What I say for myself, I say for all.  If we love the Church, we need to sacrifice our lives as Jesus did by giving up His life on the cross for us.  For me as a bishop, the ring I wear symbolizes my marriage to Christ the Head and His body the Church.  It is a reminder that I am called to be faithful to Him and His Church unto death, dying to myself so that the Church can live.  I am conscious that I am called to empty my life for the greater good of the Church.  Like Jesus, my duty is to sanctify the Church.

But our love for Christ and His Church must bring life to the world in mission.  We do not keep Christ for ourselves. Pastoral ministry is always in view of the greater evangelical and missionary dimension of the Church.  There is a real danger of being too parochial-minded that we make our parish or Church organization into a little kingdom to the extent that we are no longer working for and with the diocese and the universal Church for the spread of the mission.  It is our desire that others too will come to know Christ and share in His love.

If the ultimate goal is communion, then this mission must be accomplished in communion.  Hence, one of my first objectives is to promote a spirituality of communion.  Thus, the principle of sentire cum ecclesia, that is, to feel with the Church, to love the Church and to pray for the Church must be the guiding principle in all that we do.  The spirituality of communion must embrace the quality of compassion for each other.  We are all sinners and imperfect.  We must learn to accept each other’s weaknesses and affirm each other’s strength.  Accepting and appreciating each other’s gifts brings about greater love and respect.  We must promote inclusivity in all that we do.  No one must feel unwanted or unimportant in the Church.  The Church being Catholic means that we are universal.  Everyone deserves a place in the Church and is allowed to choose his or her spirituality so long as what we believe is in line with the Church.

At the same time, we can help to strengthen communion through dialogue. For this reason, one of my first tasks as the Archbishop is to revamp the Curia, the organs of the Church so that we have proper structures that can foster dialogue and communion. The key appointments reflect this desire to ensure an efficient running of the diocese so that there will be proper coordination and oversight of the activities and programs of the diocese.  I thank God for giving me a great team to work together.  I thank God for their generosity in giving themselves so wholeheartedly to renewing the Church.

In the final analysis, just as the sacrament of marriage is indissoluble and therefore a couple is to be faithful to each other, I know that Christ will be faithful to His anointed and to me.  As Christ is the Head and we are His body, I know that Christ will guide us and me to lead His Church.  Through a growing intimacy with Him, I will find strength in my ministry, passion in my service to the people and compassion to those who are weak and wounded.  I invite you all at this inaugural mass and at the beginning of my episcopacy to pray for me that I will truly be a shepherd after the heart of Christ, humble, wise and compassionate.  Pray for my new team as well, the Curia members, the consultors and the Senators and all the priests so that we can serve you with total dedication and zeal in the New Evangelization.

Written by Most Rev Msgr William Goh
Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
___________________________

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Catholic Spirituality Centre Singapore

Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections

1. Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
2. Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
3. It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.