20170919
QUALITIES OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS DIFFER FROM
SECULAR LEADERS
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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1 Timothy 3:1-13 ©
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Here is a saying that you can rely on: To want to be a presiding
elder is to want to do a noble work. That is why the president must have an
impeccable character. He must not have been married more than once, and he must
be temperate, discreet and courteous, hospitable and a good teacher; not a
heavy drinker, nor hot-tempered, but kind and peaceable. He must not be a lover
of money. He must be a man who manages his own family well and brings his
children up to obey him and be well-behaved: how can any man who does not
understand how to manage his own family have responsibility for the church of
God? He should not be a new convert, in case pride might turn his head and then
he might be condemned as the devil was condemned. It is also necessary that
people outside the Church should speak well of him, so that he never gets a bad
reputation and falls into the devil’s trap.
In the same
way, deacons must be respectable men whose word can be trusted, moderate in the
amount of wine they drink and with no squalid greed for money. They must be
conscientious believers in the mystery of the faith. They are to be examined
first, and only admitted to serve as deacons if there is nothing against them.
In the same way, the women must be respectable, not gossips but sober and quite
reliable. Deacons must not have been married more than once, and must be men
who manage their children and families well. Those of them who carry out their
duties well as deacons will earn a high standing for themselves and be rewarded
with great assurance in their work for the faith in Christ Jesus.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 100(101):1-3,5,6 ©
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I will walk with blameless heart.
My song is of mercy and justice;
I sing to you, O Lord.
I will walk in the way of perfection.
O when, Lord, will you come?
I will walk with blameless heart.
I will walk with blameless heart
within my house;
I will not set before my eyes
whatever is base.
I will walk with blameless heart.
The man who slanders his neighbour in secret
I will bring to silence.
The man of proud looks and haughty heart
I will never endure.
I will walk with blameless heart.
I look to the faithful in the land
that they may dwell with me.
He who walks in the way of perfection
shall be my friend.
I will walk with blameless heart.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.2Tim1:10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Lk7:16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
A great prophet has appeared among us;
God has visited his people.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 7:11-17 ©
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Jesus went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and
a great number of people. When he was near the gate of the town it happened
that a dead man was being carried out for burial, the only son of his mother,
and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the townspeople were with
her. When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her. ‘Do not cry’ he said. Then he
went up and put his hand on the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said,
‘Young man, I tell you to get up.’ And the dead man sat up and began to talk,
and Jesus gave him to his mother. Everyone was filled with awe and praised God
saying, ‘A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people.’
And this opinion of him spread throughout Judaea and all over the countryside.
QUALITIES OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS DIFFER FROM SECULAR LEADERS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 Tim 3:1-13; Ps 101:1-3,5,6; Lk 7: 11-17 ]
What does the
world look for when selecting political and corporate leaders? We are concerned primarily
with their skills and knowledge and what they can do to bring about
productivity and growth of the economy. Today, political leaders are reduced to
economists. The focus is on how well they are able to bring about prosperity
for the country and raise the standards of living for its people. Other
areas of governance – education, healthcare, internal security, etc are
important only in so far as they contribute to the productivity of its
workforce and thereby the growth of the economy. So long as the
government can deliver all these, they get elected.
This is true
as well for corporate leaders. The bottom line is that they have what it
takes to grow the business and increase profits for the company. Concern for the
well-being of its workers, work-life balance, medical benefits, corporate
citizenship, team work, skills upgrading, etc is not the main agenda.
These are provided only to the extent that they contribute to the overall
productivity of the company. At the end of the day, what is of utmost concern
is not the workers but profits.
To this
extent, character and lifestyles of political and corporate leaders are often
not scrutinized. Leadership, afterall, is just a job. What they do in
their private life is another story. It does not concern the public; so
long as they can get the work done, it is immaterial what they do in their
personal life. So their moral life is not considered, how they live their
lives or manage their family relationships are irrelevant. The only thing that
qualifies them is proper governance and accountability in terms of justice to
the public.
On the
contrary, the qualities that we look for in a religious leader are not only
quite different but more stringent than that of the secular world. The
primary qualities that we seek in a leader are more personal than skills and
knowledge-based. Indeed, the first leaders were selected not because of their
education and talents but because of their faith in Christ. St Paul
wrote, “Consider your own call, brothers and sisters not many of you were wise
by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is
weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised
in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that
are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is
the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and
righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is
written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’” (1 Cor 1:26-31)
Indeed, the first apostles were fishermen and were uneducated. “Now when
they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated
and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of
Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)
Secondly,
this faith in Christ must be demonstrated in a Christ-like life of compassion,
as we read in today’s gospel. In the gospel, we read of Jesus’ compassion for
the suffering, especially the weak and the widowed. When He saw “a dead
man was being carried out for burial, the only son of his mother, and she was a
widow … the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her.” Without her asking
for help, He stepped up to her and said, “‘Do not cry’ he said. Then he went up
and put his hand on the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said, ‘Young
man, I tell you to get up.’ And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and
Jesus gave him to his mother.” Jesus was a man of compassion and had a
heart for the poor and the suffering.
A good
religious leader must also be a man with a heart after the Good Shepherd who
came for the weak and the suffering. We are told that “Everyone was filled with awe and praised
God saying, ‘A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his
people.’ And this opinion of him spread throughout Judaea and all over the
countryside.” A religious leader is called to be a sign of God’s
visitation to the people that he serves. He is to show forth the glory of
God’s mercy and compassion in His life. His service to the people is rooted
in the heart of God’s compassion for us. So a religious leader must not
only have faith in God but faith working itself in love. “For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only
thing that counts is faith working[a] through
love.” (Gal 5:6)
And again St James wrote, “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by
my works will show you my faith. Show me your faith apart from your
works, and I by my works will show you my faith.” (Jms 2:18, 26)
But faith and
compassion are not enough to qualify oneself for leadership. We need holiness and
integrity of life as mentioned in today’s first reading. We note that
when the early Church became gradually institutionalized, more regulations were
needed to install worthy leaders. St Paul, writing to Timothy who
was the bishop of Ephesus, reminded him of whom he should appoint as elders of
the community. “To want to be a presiding elder is to want to do a
noble work. That is why the president must have an impeccable character. He
must not have been married more than once, and he must be temperate, discreet
and courteous, hospitable and a good teacher; not a heavy drinker, nor
hot-tempered, but kind and peaceable. He must not be a lover of money. He must
be a man who manages his own family well.” Furthermore, “he should not be
a new convert, in case pride might turn his head and then he might be condemned
as the devil was condemned. It is also necessary that people outside the Church
should speak well of him, so that he never gets a bad reputation and falls into
the devil’s trap.”
In other words,
a religious leader must live a life of integrity, self-control and exemplary as
a Christian.
He is expected to be an example and mentor for others, whether at work or in
family life. He has to live a simple life and be of good temperament so
that the goodness of God could be seen through him. Unless he
possesses the compassion and understanding of Christ, others would get hurt by
his lack of self-control and anger. Most of all, he must have a
good reputation so that others would not find fault with him and discredit all
that he does. Such were the high moral demands of a religious leader in
the past, and still are required today for anyone who wants to be a priest, a
religious or even a lay leader. Without being exemplary leaders who could
inspire and edify those whom they lead, they would be no better than some of
the corrupt and selfish leaders in the world. Such leaders do not serve the
people but themselves. They might be intelligent, brilliant and
resourceful but they serve themselves, for glory, power, status and wealth; not
so much for the greater good of the people. Such leaders put themselves
first and not the last, as Jesus demanded of us leaders. “It will not be
so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and
whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the
Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom
for many.” (Mt 20:26-28)
Only when
these qualities are found in a person, do we then speak of talents, creativity
and management abilities; qualities that are required of secular leaders. Unfortunately, in the modern
world, our lay faithful, influenced by the corporate world, are looking for
these secular qualities in our religious leaders, more so than the spiritual
and moral qualities. They expect their religious leaders to be skilled in
management, counselling and mediation, besides possessing intellectual capacity
and the ability to speak and preach well. The expectations of a good
religious leader are too demanding and can be daunting. One must not only
be a man of faith and simplicity, detachment, chastity and obedience, but also
of good moral integrity, a good temperament, exemplary and yet be trained in
the skills of a secular leader.
The question
is, where do we find such young men and women who are willing to commit their
life to Jesus and to His people? Where can we find people who will walk a blameless life of
utter service and charity? Are there people who are interested to walk a
life of holiness? “My song is of mercy and justice; I sing to you, O
Lord. I will walk in the way of perfection. O when, Lord, will you
come? I will walk with blameless heart within my house; I will not set before
my eyes whatever is base. I look to the faithful in the land that they
may dwell with me. He who walks in the way of perfection shall be my
friend.” Let this be our prayer for the Church. We must pray, for
that is what the Lord asks of us. “The harvest is plentiful, but the
laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out
laborers into his harvest.” (Mt 9:37f)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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