1. Often we read of Jesus asking Peter to "feed my sheep" at the end of John's Gospel in terms of ministry, of doing God’s work for others who are wanting.

    At a recollection for the catechists of St Francis Xavier’s Church in Serangoon Gardens last November, I challenged them to reflect on what more ministry can mean. I suggested that the richness of ministry to others makes good sense when we are also willing to minister to our co-ministers in the apostolates we are in. We can do this by being fully present to them.

    The ministry of being fully present to a co-minister has three elements: gathering and belonging; partnering and sharing; and sanctifying.

    Gathering and belonging invites us to take at an honest look at who, rather than what, moves us to minister. Most of the time, our good desire and intention to reach out and serve are reasons cited. The more honest truth is that we are gathered into a ministry. We are brought together in our giftedness and our frailties to share a common vision and undertake a common mission. Our sharing expresses our belongingness as Church. Gathering and belonging can remind us of community and friendship, good gifts that nourish and shelter us as we work tirelessly for the spiritual and material wellbeing of others. Like the apostles, who must have asked the question, “Why are we here?” every now and then of their coming together, our good company as ministers will find its answer in a name: Jesus.

    Partnering and sharing go beyond the act of coming together. They speak of interdependence and mutual participation in the shared mission. Indeed, God gathers our differences together because this is our commonwealth. In this, we are very much like Jesus’ disciples: in pairs, and later on as a community and Church, this mutual sharing in diversity strengthens Jesus’ work of extending God’s reign on earth. It is precisely in and through this partnership—of you and me gathered under the banner of Jesus’ cross to do our Father’s Will—that the mission can be lifted to a higher plane. “Who do I partner?” or “What do I share?” are not the questions we should ask as we collaborate. Rather, the correct question is: “Who missions me in the good company of others to serve and love?" Again, the answer is a person: Jesus.

    Sanctifying is ultimately what we are called to do for another in ministry. We however cannot sanctify others if we do not first sanctify each other as co-ministers. Any ministry that seeks to share God’s Good News to the world ought to first preach this to all in the ministering community. The Good News can then be lived out together. Like charity, sanctification must begin at home. As co-ministers, we are called to walk with and to nurture each other to holiness. It is precisely in holiness, holy friendship with God and one another, that we grow as apostles who can go forth to proclaim by word, deed and life the holiness all peoples are called to. Holiness is God’s deepest desire for you and me and for all humankind’s transformation. The question before us now is: “Whose holiness sanctifies us enough for God’s ministry?” In Jesus we have our answer.

    Indeed, to share the Good News of God and all God can mean to human life is the most enduring lesson Christian ministry must give to the whole world. These begin first as a lesson its ministers must learn as followers of Jesus the Christ. Then, we can we go forth to proclaim God's Good News with the conviction and passion Jesus had when ministering. Christian ministry is therefore never about a what. It is always about a who in our lives, Jesus who shows us the Father’s love.

    Perhaps it is fitting now as we begin a new year of ministry to reflect on this question: in what am I doing for God, am I first fully present to my co-ministers, fellow sheep, to help them know Jesus, the Good Shepherd, in our lives?




    artwork: hill sheep by maggie beveridge, 2002
    0

    Add a comment

  2. Today’s post for the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord comes from Fr Gerry Keane, SJ who penned this for our parish bulletin.


    "The stable may be empty now but the celebrations are far from over. The most colourful gatecrashers have yet to arrive. They will come from God knows where. They will meet up miraculously. They will follow a star leading them on a hair-brained journey. They will abandon their high living and luxury to undertake an arduous and wild search. Camels shall carry them across hills and desert. And all this because of a child.

    They are of course, wealthy and learned—in stark contrast to the ignorant, simple folk in Bethlehem. But Christ loved the rich no less than the poor even if the former frequently failed to acknowledge it. These strange visitors, students of the skies, were able to find wonder that drew then, through their profession as astrologers, to a truth beyond human learning. They were able to 'adore' and to wonder. They were more 'Wise Men' rather than brilliant scholars.

    They were not at the stable but St Francis of Assisi [who came up with the idea of the Nativity scene] helped them to join shepherds there. And so the wonderful Epiphany of the child God revealing the Father to rich and poor, to learned and ignorant, to men from all and every country was dramatically and colourfully staged. We owe much to the Christmas 'kings.' May we learn something of their childlike wonder and wisdom."




    artwork: adoration of the magi by correggio
    1

    View comments

  3. Isn’t it wonderful that a new year has dawned on us?

    I wonder if you, like me, are filled with an expectant hope for the better to come this new year. Once, a wise friend taught me that we can appreciate this hope more fully by appraising it in the light of what the past year means in our lives.
    Allow me then to share how my friend's invitation to appraise speaks to me at this time.
    In parts, 2007 was a difficult year for me. This was so because I had to learn how to live better as a person, a Christian and a Jesuit in the face of a betrayal, and its repercussions, by one whom I had thought of as friend. My friend’s actions inflicted pain; it was a deep and searing stab. My friend’s twist of the blade before the eyes of many only sharpened the agonizing tearing asunder of that which I have always cherished: care for another. It hurt then; now the pain ebbs away slowly.

    That event called into question some of the certitudes in my life. For awhile, these were ripped apart like a tapestry losing its pattern and sheen when one cuts apart what the weaver lovingly wove into being. And I found myself walking in the shadows and uncertainties.

    But in the midst of these, there was light. Enough light to give me a reason to continue on life’s journey. Breaking through the smothering darkness, every now and then, and ever so often, in the faithful love of family and friends, this light reminded me of St Ignatius’ wisdom in The Spiritual Exercises: as surely as day follows night, consolation will come after desolation.
    In these difficult moments, all one is asked to do is to hang on and trust in God’s fidelity and providence.

    As I look ahead to the new year, this particular experience helps me to better see life’s road, always there but never clearly marked out for its bumps and humps till one comes across them. I know now and more humbly that I will not always see it with the clarity of the bright noon day light as I continue to tread along it to God's destined place where I am to be.

    Rather, more often than not, I am called to see it with the first rays of a promised new morn that pierce the formless darkness of the fading long night in the distant east. And this faint but certain glow can give each of us enough courage to walk along the road less travelled, again and again, this coming year and beyond, with faith and in the Light.

    This then is how 2008 has begun for me. These nascent days invite me to look back and to know that we will always grow up enough from past experiences to move onward with the certitude that we can live tomorrow better because we have experienced the Hope that illuminates, God.

    I believe my friend's wisdom that the beginning of every new year invites us to pause and reflect is echoed in these eloquent lines from Dag Hammarskjöld: for all that has been, thanks; for all that will come, yes.

    Dear friend, do Hammarskjöld’s words speak to you too of a God who gives you reason to look forward to 2008 with hope?
    3

    View comments

"Bukas Palad"
"Bukas Palad"
is Filipino for open palms
Greetings!
Greetings!
Peace and welcome, dear friend.
I hope you will find in these posts something that speaks to you of the God who loves us all and who always holds us in the palm of his hand. Blessings!
The Liturgical Calendar / Year C
Faith & Spirituality
Tagged as...
Blog Archive
Blog Archive
Fall in Love, Stay in Love
Fall in Love, Stay in Love

"Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute way final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything."

Pedro Arrupe, sj, Superior General, 1965 - 1983

About Me
About Me
My Photo
is a 50something Catholic who resides in Singapore and works for the Church. He is a priest of the Roman Catholic Church.
Disclaimer
Disclaimer
©adrian.danker.sj, 2006-2018

The views I express in these pages are personal. They do not speak for the Society of Jesus or the Catholic Church.
Loading