BE GOD’S INSTRUMENTS IN MAKING THE EARTH THE SANCTUARY OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: EZ 43:1-7; PS: 84: 9-14; MT 23:1-12
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Ezekiel was a prophet before and during exile. He saw the disastrous destruction of the temple by the Babylonians. But he was asked to give hope to the Israelites in exile. He prophesied the return to Jerusalem and the restoration of the Temple of Jerusalem. He had a vision of the Temple of Jerusalem filled with the glory of God where God lived.
However, the restored temple could not be compared to Solomon’s glorious temple. This brought them great sadness. Hence, the prophet spoke of a greater temple which is in the hearts of man. God wants to dwell in our land. That is the prayer of the responsorial psalm, “The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.” The message is that God lives in all. He will give us a new heart and pour His Spirit in us. But before God can live in us, we need to repent, like the Israelites in exile. God can only live in hearts that are ready to accept Him. Only when God is worshipped can God also dwell in our land.
Today, the Church as the Body of Christ is the New Temple of God. And as individuals, because His Spirit lives in us, we are also the Temple of the Holy Spirit. It is from this perspective that we are called to be the sign and sacrament of God’s presence in the world, a world that is becoming fragmented and divisive, godless and valueless, because of secularism. In such a secularized climate, all the more, priests and Church leaders, lay or religious, are called to communicate the presence of God to the world.
However, if the Church lacks power in the work of evangelization today, it is because many of us priests, religious and lay leaders are lacking in holiness and apostolic zeal. Indeed, Jesus’ condemnation of the religious leaders of His day could well apply to us all in different ways. Like them, consciously or unconsciously, we are not living examples of holiness. We might be doing “church work”, but more as an activity or a duty, rather than consciously doing it for the love and glory of God. Quite often, instead of glorifying God together, we scandalize the world with our inner division and power play to control and dominate.
We live lives of contradiction because what we say is not what we do. We teach forgiveness but we do not want to forgive. We talk about unity and communion, but we cannot live in communion with each other. We speak of humility but we want honour, recognition and acknowledgement. We speak of vulnerability, but we are easily hurt by the remarks of others. We talk about service, but we are concerned with controlling others and being served.
Indeed, the words of Jesus to His disciples could well apply to us. “You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they!” Isn’t this reprimand of Jesus applicable to all of us, regardless whether we are priests or lay? We all are leaders in our own fields. We are hard on those under our care who fail in their duties. We give them the dos and don’ts. Yet we do just the opposite ourselves. We cannot live up to what we tell others. How sad indeed when we are reduced to this state, for words without actions lack power! Yes, Pope Paul VI reminds us that what the world needs is not teachers but witnesses! If our teaching has not changed lives, it is because we lack credibility. In a word, the glory of God is not radiating from our very beings.
For this reason, we all need a renewal in holiness of life. This is what the Holy Father, the late John Paul II in his apostolic letter Millennio Ineunute, asks of us all. He wrote that if we are to be ready for the work of evangelization, then the starting point is to train ourselves in holiness. Holiness is intrinsic to the ministry and presupposes the ministry. Without holiness, all that we say will sound hollow and hypocritical. Unless others see that what we say is working and transforming our lives, why should they even bother to try?
If we are lacking in holiness, perhaps the root cause can be traced to formation. Our Catholics are not taking their formation in spiritual life seriously. How many of our Catholics, after completing their RCIA, are making time for spiritual formation by attending talks or enrolling in courses? Can one grow in spiritual life without ongoing formation or spending time to do a personal retreat? Worse still, many of us do not even make time for prayer and meditation on the Word of God. Yet we are serving the Church in different ministries, often holding important and critical positions in the Church. How can our clerical and lay leaders be discerning and be exemplary in Christian life if they are not filled with the glory of God?
Today, we are called to turn to Christ who is our true teacher and master. We are not the teacher but only the servant of Christ. We cannot call ourselves “Father” unless we show the face of our Heavenly Father in our lives. All that we do must lead people to Jesus, and through Him, to the Heavenly Father. Without enrolling in the school of our Lord, learning from Him our sole Teacher, we cannot be teachers to others, whether at Church, in the offices or to our children.
We are called to look towards Him as our exemplar in humility in service. Jesus said, “The greatest among you must be your servant. Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.” This is the only acceptable reason for leadership. We seek to be a humble servant for Christ and His people by being the servant of the Gospel both in word and deed, as the Prophet Ezekiel was in his prophetic words and actions. Thus, it is necessarily to be purified of our motives. Let us ask for the gift of humility today so that, aware of our own inadequacies, we will come to the Lord for inspiration and guidance. We must turn to Christ our teacher and master in prayer, asking for that grace to grow in holiness, zeal and most of all, in humility and charity.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh
Archbishop of Singapore
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Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
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.
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.
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.
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