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
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.
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