Last week we spoke of catechism for the need to expand from merely passing on “head knowledge” because that alone was not leading to evangelization. St. Paul said, “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Good News, and not to preach that in terms of philosophy in which the crucifixion of Christ cannot be expressed.” In another version, “not by the means of the wisdom of language, wise words which would make the cross of Christ pointless.” (Second Reading)

Our Catholic faith is not static, contained in a book of knowledge. Rather our faith will be the wisdom that write our book of life. Faith stands firmly on strong belief and a complete trust in God’s providence. God generously respond to our faith by coming to be with us in everyday life. This presence is real, tangible and can be felt. Although unseen, we see the effect. Embracing this presence, empowered by the effect, we gradually grow in wisdom to live our life. So, follow.

“Follow me and I will make you Fishers of men”. This is the most basic of our vocation call for us to go and contribute to the lives of others. Almost everyone in this world now know Christ, and this is where now that “head knowledge” need to be coupled with encounters. To fish for men we need to facilitate such encounters. To facilitate we preach the Word of God in terms of the life we live. This life must not “make the cross of life pointless”, where selflessness gives us that capacity to put others first, to love as God does.

To become a Fisher of Men, apart from developing this knowledge of Christ, we must share and testify to bring to life this Word of God. We make unconditional love real through its many fruits: Mercy, forgiveness, selflessness, humility, kindness, generosity among others. We offer the gift of our time to listen, to console, to heal, to affirm, to empower, to be a companion for another in their journey in life. Through being a “Fisher of Men” we become the appointed person through whom God works to touch the lives of those in need. A Fisher of Men demystify this presence of God for others.

A skilled Fisher of Men is like who St. Paul describes, “throwing light on the inner workings of the mystery.” (Ephesians 3:9). A Fisher of Men illuminates life.

A Fisher of Men spends quality time in the personal waters of the spiritually needy. Often the Fisher is a companion during storms helping to pick up the pieces in the aftermath. Amidst the rubble the Fisher is the conduit of this presence of God. The Fisher of Men help the lost to touch and be touched by God. Touch is a tangible dimension of faith; it is healing and empowering, encounters we all need to couple with “head knowledge”. Evangelisation is more telling, more heart felt, in face to face encounters with a fellow person and with God.

“Repent.” This is a call for continued conversion, not a payment of guilt. For both those being fished and those fishing, both have the opportunity through such encounters to purify themselves as they continue to head home on this journey in life. Repenting is like a fisherman mending his net repairing his torn parts. “Come, follow me and I will make you Fishers of Men.”

A Fisher of Men illuminates the life of others:
The people that walked in darkness
has seen a great light;
on those who live in a land of deep shadow
a light has shone.
You have made their gladness greater,
you have made their joy increase;
they rejoice in your presence
(First reading)

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Word of God Sunday

I was interested in a recent front page article of the Singapore Catholic News, “Structure of catechesis needs to change”. Here in is the frustration that after chapter upon chapter of well delivered “religious instruction”, it has not made “our young people truly fervent Catholics”. The Archbishop said, “Our youth are being sacramentalised, not evangelised.”

Quoting the article, “Christianity is all about relationship, about belonging. ‘Unless you have a relationship with Him, there can be no catechesis … there will just be head knowledge.’”

Man and woman have continued progressing. In the times of the Old Testament, God spoke through floods and famine. Perhaps God still does. But man and woman have progressed through time and now communicate on a different wavelength. Head knowledge can reason flood and famine. People have changed, progressed intellectually and perhaps also spiritually. And so we must change our methods of teaching to communicate about God and our faith.

Yesterday’s tourist posing in front of a prominent landmark has become today’s traveller sipping the local flavour in some back alley café. Knowledge must today be enhanced by experiences, otherwise it remains just a picture. A friend recently debated about our education. We teach a lot of algebra and math but we do not teach the young how to manage money in life. We pass on head knowledge without passing on lifestyle skills. We call for change.

Christianity is also a lifestyle; every doctrine is to guide us to live this lifestyle of love for God and for others. If doctrine stands alone, it leads only to sacramentalisation. But love is not a chapter but an experience. And only when knowledge is coupled with encounters with God will it lead to evangelisation.

“Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will. You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings, but an open ear.” (Today’s Psalm).

This is a call not only to catechists. It is actually tough to expect them to make disciples. They have only one hour on a Sunday morning. This psalm is a call to every one of us to become a catechist of life. We all have our personal life experiences, good and bad, joyful and sad. In all of these experiences we must ask ourselves if we encountered God. If we did we need to share our experiences to make God real in the reality of people’s life. Sharing or testifying enhances knowledge. It gives life to doctrine. It evangelises.

Sharing of personal life experiences and encounters with God is the new curriculum for today. It is in the chapters of our life story where we find Jesus. In each episode of life we must be like John the Baptist to point out, “Look there is the Lamb of God”. In our gratitude for who we are today we must testify, “Yes I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God”. (Today’s Gospel). Without this we cannot evangelise.

The Catholic Church has actually been wise to this. RCIA was born out of Vatican II. RCIA was to replace the old catechism method of forming Christians; this old method of drumming knowledge alone. If we take a closer look at RCIA it is modelled as a community of learning, sharing and testifying. Somewhere along our timeline, in our pride of possessing knowledge, some of us missed it.

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Every Christmas, after Christmas, we hear this story of the 3 wise men from the East following the star to Bethlehem to worship the Infant Christ.  This isn’t a tale because it is real. We learned this in our catechism class. The meaning behind this is that Christ came for all people in the world so that everyone shares the same inheritance. We are taught to believe and so we do.

Many people believe in Jesus Christ. Historians can tell us about the birth, life and death of Christ. Our calendar mark this significance; B.C. and A.D. Since the 3 wise men, many people all over the world have come to know and believe. Many who believe choose to remain unbaptised. And many who are baptised choose to remain only in believe.

We do not need to be baptised to believe.  Baptism is an intentional act. When we choose baptism we intentionally embrace the teachings of Christ and choose Christianity as a life style of choice. It means that we want not merely to believe but to intentionally follow Christ. We totally surrender our life and put complete trust in him. In whatever we do, in whichever circumstance we find ourselves in, we follow him with total faith and hope like a guiding star on this journey through life.

The 3 wise men set off intentionally on a long journey so that they can follow Christ. They too started with believe. Without intention we cannot follow. Without following there is no life in our believing. Every day life is filled with opportunities. A baptised person should wake up each day with the intention to be a Christian, to use all the opportunities to manifest the presence of Christ and bring him to others.

Like the wise men, we too have our own frankincense, gold and myrrh. We are all gifted and talented, each uniquely in our own way. But the greatest gift we have is life itself; this time on earth. When we follow,  we intentionally give our time, our life, using our unique gifts in the service of others. We believe Christ taught us to love God through loving others. To put this into practice, to be intentional of this in all we do, is to follow beyond just believing.

This path through life is not easy. Life is full of choices for us to believe in so many things. There are so many attractive paths that we have wandered down which eventually turned out to be dead ends. We are in a maze and the Infant Christ have come to lead us through. Follow or believe?

There are many Herods in our life, even more in this progressive time of affluence and technology. These Herods are lurking in our dark recesses to kill the Infant Christ in us. But Herod will never win. Herod is only a cloud of darkness. Behind this cloud is our Guiding Star faithfully watching and protecting us. This, we must believe and follow.

The Epiphany of our Lord.