REPUTABLE, WISE AND APPOINTED

I have been in leadership for a number of years, and still am, in many ways. I have been under leaders, too, for all my life. Some of those who occupy positions of leadership are reputable; some are not. A number of them are wise; and a great many are dumb. (Just  look at the many “honorable” and “distinguished” people that hog the air lanes every day!)

There are leaders whom I like. They are prudent and charismatic, apart from being role models. There are leaders I dislike. They are narcissistic, focused too much on results, and please themselves more than they try to please God or their constituents.

I bet you know what’s coming next. Yes, in the Church that we love, there are leaders and there are leaders... pastors who are exemplary and pastors who are just a bit less than scandalous. The Church has had bad popes and good popes, sinful and saintly bishops, ambitious and humble priests, and men of the cloth who deserve to be called unsung heroes of our times. They do their work quietly and without fanfare.

It is easy to love many of them. Like the seven deacons of today’s first reading, a great many are “reputable, filled with the Spirit and wisdom,” and utterly selfless in their service.

But it is just as easy to hate, or at least, dislike a number of them, for reasons as many as there are people. People will always find reasons and motives to dislike them. They could be less than reputable. They may sound like they are filled, not with the Spirit, but with some kind of spirits of the liquid kind. They may not be doing right in our eyes. They may not be worthy from our point of view.

But they are appointed by God. Through them, “the Word of God continues to spread.” For God can write straight even with crooked lines. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

 

Reflection Question:

What kind of leader am I?

 

Mold me, Father, to be the kind of leader that You want your sons and daughters to be — a leader with a servant heart.

 

St. Fulk, pray for us.

CHOOSING A LIFE OF SERVICE

One of the questions we have to answer throughout our lives is to what degree we are going to choose to serve others rather than just ourselves. The sons of Zebedee, James and John, are seeking the places of honor on either side of Jesus at the table in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus is not interested in who sits at His right or left; what interests Him is whether or not James and John are willing to serve the Gospel.

The challenge that Jesus gives to James and John is the same one that we all have to face if we are going to take on the life of a disciple. The other disciples are no better than James and John as their indignation indicates. This indignation could be seen as a sign of their disapproval of the request of their colleagues but it is probably a little more than that as it also implies that they have just as much “right” to those seats as James and John. Perhaps they are more annoyed by the fact that James and John got their application in first.

Anyway, Jesus is not buying any of this and immediately shifts the focus to an exhortation on discipleship, service and true leadership. Leadership in the Church is all about the delivery of the services that the Gospel demands the people of God have a right to receive. A leader must be willing to lay down his life in the service of the People of God, not seek places of honor at parties and society events. Yes, honor does often accompany good leadership, but a good leader will never be influenced by it. As soon as honor becomes the focus of the leader, that is the day that corruption begins its insidious growth in the life of the society in question.

Let us pray for all the world leaders that will focus on service, not honor. I am sure that if this happens, the world will become a far better and fairer place to live in. The choices we make as individuals will support the movement of leadership in one direction or the other. Let us not underestimate the power of our choices. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

What are the traits I look for in a good leader? Do I reflect these values in my life or do I have a way to go in being a witness to good leadership?

 

Holy Spirit, help me to seek the gifts that matter and will contribute to my capacity to lead well when I come before God in prayer today.

 

St. Victorian, pray for us.