[stephenkhoo]

CHRISTIANS ARE CALLED TO MANIFEST THE VISITATION OF GOD TO HIS PEOPLE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 TIM 3:1-13; LK 7:11-17

In the gospel story, we read of how Jesus in His compassion for the desolate widowed mother raised her son back to life. And the reaction of the crowd was one of awe and praise because they experienced Him as truly a prophet of God and through Him, “God has visited his people.” Yes, in Jesus, they felt the love, compassion and power of God. What is the most important lesson we can draw from this incident with regard to the ministry of Jesus and our ministry as disciples of Christ?

Mainly this: what people are basically looking for today is the presence of God. Yes, people want to see and experience the presence of God in their lives. This means that people are seeking for an incarnated God. The doctrine of incarnation means that Christ continues to act concretely even in our lives today. Hence, it is not enough to proclaim an intellectual or abstract God. Proclamation of God’s love in words and promises are not enough. Proclamation of God’s love in preaching and teaching must be demonstrated in action as well, if Jesus as the Incarnation of God is to be effectively proclaimed. Christians are thus called to not simply proclaim God’s love but the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ.

Indeed, Jesus in today’s gospel did not preach a sermon on the mercy and the love of God to the poor widow who had lost her only son. Instead, He raised the son from the dead. His act of mercy and love itself was the sermon and the concrete proclamation of God’s love. And so powerful was the sermon in action that the people were filled with awe and reverence, recognizing at once that Jesus was the true prophet of God and that in and through Him, God had visited them. Indeed, it is said that actions such as this speak so loudly that one cannot but hear what is being said.

This quest for an incarnated God explains why people are attracted to those Churches that can mediate God concretely in their lives. Churches that proclaim and mediate God’s love through fellowship, prayer, worship and healings attract large crowds. Thus, Churches that have strong fellowship make God very alive in their communities. Besides fellowship, Churches that provide rich liturgy, worship and healing, such as the charismatic movements or novena to our Lady or devotional groups, also draw many people. One notable example is the growing fervor of Singaporeans making pilgrimages to Santa Cruz in Malacca during the Feast of the Holy Cross because they have heard of the testimonies of healing and prayers being answered by those who prayed at that shrine.

What can we learn from this observation? Namely, that the origin of the Church was based on the charismatic activities carried out by Jesus and the apostles. The Church grew by leaps and bounds simply because the people saw in Jesus the manifestation and the visitation of God in their midst. Today, people living in a secularized world are no different from that of the primitive Church. For the many intellectuals who think that they can solve all the problems of the world through science alone, God has no place in their lives. The problem is worsened by the scandals of Church and religious leaders who place the credibility of the Church in doubt today. Hence, many are leaving the Church simply because they no longer perceive the Institutional Church, particularly her leaders, as the face of Christ.

It is within this context that the first reading of St Paul’s letter to the young Bishop Timothy serves as a timely reminder for us all. Whilst it is important that the Church must continue the charismatic work of Christ, namely, healing and preaching with fervor and enthusiasm, we must not forget the works of mercy, compassion and love in the way we minister to the people of God. Such works are necessary to bring about change in the lives of people. Preaching is not enough. When we love someone, we work miracles in their lives because seeing the face of God in us gives them hope.

Consequently, it behooves us as Christians to remember that we are to become more and more the visitation of God to others. Just as the people saw in Jesus the manifestation of God’s presence so, too, people expect to see the presence of God in all Christians, especially those of us who exercise leadership in the House of God. For good reasons, therefore, Christian leaders, clerical or lay, and all those serving in ministries are called to bring Christ to others. Hence, as priests, religious and ministers of God, our primary duty is not simply to teach or to preach well or to organize activities efficiently, but more fundamental is our calling to be the presence of God’s love and compassion to others. People need to see us as men and women of God, but they can experience us as such only when they see us as people of generosity in service, compassionate in love, and most of all, as people of prayer and deep faith. While professional competency in our work is surely important to the ministry, yet in the final analysis, it is not what we say or teach, but how we live that will really touch the lives of people and bring them to God.

Indeed, this is what Paul is speaking about in today’s first reading. Although St Paul was outlining the qualities expected of Church leaders, by extension such virtues are expected of us all who serve the Lord. The truth is that unless we as Church leaders live morally upright, disciplined, responsible, loving and integrated lives, we will compromise our ability to become the face of God to others. For if we do not know how to manage our own lives, how can we manage the lives of others? That is why St Paul said, “if a man does not know how to manage his own house, how can he take care of the church of God?” Instead of being signs of God, we become counter-witnesses. And just as holy men and women of the faith have brought many people to Christ, when we fail to be the sign of God’s love, either because of lapses in our moral life, the lack of integrity or compassion for the weak, we cause many people to lose faith in the Church. Hurt and disillusioned, they will eventually leave the Church and give up faith in God, as one cannot continue to grow in faith in Christ when we remain outside His body the Church. To give up faith in the institutional Church is the first step towards giving up faith in Christ.

Yes, today’s scripture readings serve to remind us that our basic calling in life is to enable people to experience God concretely in their lives through the services that we provide to them, but in a very important way by the kind of lives we live. We are to live our lives in such a way that when people encounter us they too can experience and remark that “God has visited them.” Mother Teresa was one such person who has combined both work and personal example in her life. In her service to the poor, many encountered God’s compassion. In her very own life, they could see God in her and that is why they called her a living saint. Yes, St Paul wrote, “Those of them who carry out their duties well as deacons will earn high standing for themselves and be rewarded with great assurance in their work for the faith in Christ Jesus.”

We, too, as ministers, collaborators in the vineyard of the Lord and disciples of God, are called to be just like that. In fact, by failing to incarnate God’s love in our lives and in our ministry, it shows that the office we hold as disciples and ministers of Christ is but a hollow name because we are not really the ministers of God in the fullest sense of that term. If that were the case, then recognizing our weaknesses and limitations, we must pray that God visits us first, so that filled with His love, we can then share His presence with others when we minister to them. A Christian leader who fails to spend time with the Lord will hinder God from working miracles in his life and in the lives of those under his charge. His egoistic outlook will block God’s grace from transforming him into another Christ and prevent His grace from working in and through him. For that reason, above all, all ministers of the gospel must first be so filled with God’s love and mercy before they can proclaim Him to others.