20181112
DEALING WITH THE
SCANDALS OF OUR LEADERS
12 NOVEMBER,
2018, Monday, 32nd Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Red.
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First reading
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Titus 1:1-9 ©
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Appoint elders of irreproachable
character
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From Paul, servant of God, an apostle of
Jesus Christ to bring those whom God has chosen to faith and to the knowledge
of the truth that leads to true religion; and to give them the hope of the
eternal life that was promised so long ago by God. He does not lie and so, at
the appointed time, he revealed his decision, and, by the command of God our
saviour, I have been commissioned to proclaim it. To Titus, true child of mine
in the faith that we share, wishing you grace and peace from God the Father and
from Christ Jesus our saviour.
The
reason I left you behind in Crete was for you to get everything organised there
and appoint elders in every town, in the way that I told you: that is, each of
them must be a man of irreproachable character; he must not have been married
more than once, and his children must be believers and not uncontrollable or
liable to be charged with disorderly conduct. Since, as president, he will be
God’s representative, he must be irreproachable: never an arrogant or
hot-tempered man, nor a heavy drinker or violent, nor out to make money; but a
man who is hospitable and a friend of all that is good; sensible, moral, devout
and self-controlled; and he must have a firm grasp of the unchanging message of
the tradition, so that he can be counted on for both expounding the sound
doctrine and refuting those who argue against it.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 23(24):1-6 ©
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Such are the men who
seek your face, O Lord.
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,
the world and all its peoples.
It is he who set it on the seas;
on the waters he made it firm.
Such are the men who
seek your face, O Lord.
Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who shall stand in his holy
place?
The man with clean hands and pure heart,
who desires not worthless
things.
Such are the men who seek
your face, O Lord.
He shall receive blessings from the Lord
and reward from the God who
saves him.
Such are the men who seek him,
seek the face of the God of
Jacob.
Such are the men who
seek your face, O Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ph2:15-16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
You will shine in the world like bright
stars
because you are offering it the word of
life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 17:1-6 ©
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If your brother does wrong, reprove him
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Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Obstacles
are sure to come, but alas for the one who provides them! It would be better
for him to be thrown into the Sea with a millstone put round his neck than that
he should lead astray a single one of these little ones. Watch yourselves!
If
your brother does something wrong, reprove him and, if he is sorry, forgive
him. And if he wrongs you seven times a day and seven times comes back to you
and says, “I am sorry,” you must forgive him.’
The
apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ The Lord replied, ‘Were your
faith the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be
uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you.’
DEALING WITH THE SCANDALS OF OUR LEADERS
One of the reasons given
by lapsed Catholics and those who have dropped out from the Catholic faith is
that they were scandalized by Church
leaders. This is true of other religions too. Many have given
up their faith in God because of the misconduct of their leaders, especially
when it comes to sexual misdemeanour and misappropriation of funds.
Sometimes, it is because of the luxurious lifestyles of the religious leaders,
especially when they preach about the virtue of living in simplicity and
sharing our wealth with the needy. In some places, even those holding
civil office are expected to behave according to the norms of society.
Some are forced to, or resign voluntarily when their deeds are exposed.
It is true that most people
cannot tolerate hypocrisy in their religious leaders. This is
understandable because leaders must lead by example and not just by
words. To be a great leader, one must walk the talk. Leadership is
more than just strategizing, teaching, preaching or trying to heighten the
emotions of people so as to garner support. Leadership is to show that
what we say is doable. The credibility of leaders is lost when their
members discover that they are living a double life; preaching about poverty
but living a luxurious lifestyle, preaching chastity but having improper
relationships, or demanding obedience from their subordinates but not
submitting to higher authority themselves.
When Church leaders fail, many people are
disheartened because Church leaders are supposedly the face of Christ
and their hope in a hopeless world where there is no more morality, truth and
justice. It is as if their ideal world has collapsed. So
when religious leaders are exposed for their hypocrisy, there is no model left
for them to be inspired to live a holy life, a life that is mentioned in the
responsorial psalm. “Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord? Who shall
stand in his holy place? The man with clean hands and pure heart, who
desires not worthless things. Such are the men who seek your face, O Lord.”
Consequently, in the early Church,
we read about the stringent and high demands made on those who aspired to
religious office. St Paul in his advice to the Christian community
told them that their leaders must live righteous lives. He said, “Each of
them must be a man of irreproachable character; he must not have been married
more than once, and his children must be believers and not uncontrollable or
liable to be charged with disorderly conduct. Since, as president, he will be
God’s representative, he must be irreproachable: never an arrogant or
hot-tempered man, nor a heavy drinker or violent, nor out to make money; but a
man who is hospitable and a friend of all that is good; sensible, moral, devout
and self-controlled; and he must have a firm grasp of the unchanging message of
the tradition, so that he can be counted on for both expounding the sound
doctrine and refuting those who argue against it.”
This is why there is a different
set of standards in the secular and corporate world. Other than
financial corruption, the other private domains such as one’s sex life and
lifestyle are condoned by others, so long as one gets the job done and helps
boost the economy. Work is distinct from lifestyle. This also
explains why political and corporate leaders are regarded only for their
performance and are no longer role models for our young people today. And
if they are role models, they are negative role models. Today, the world
does not value virtue, but intelligence and the ability to generate money.
How, then, should we
respond to the disillusionment as a result of the scandals caused by our
religious leaders?
We know that forgiveness is extremely difficult, especially when we have high
expectations of our leaders. How then can we forgive the mistakes and
sins of those who have hurt us, especially when they are our leaders?
The truth is that we can act
differently. Instead of feeling angry and disheartened, we must
realize that the scandals are means by which God helps us to grow in personal
sanctification, in love, understanding and compassion. Thus in the
gospel, Jesus tells us to forgive our brother who has done something wrong
against us. To be able to forgive those who have wronged us means that we
have transcended their weaknesses and that we have grown in understanding and
compassion. When we are able to think well of everyone and make genuine
and sincere excuses for our weak and sinful brothers and sisters, then we would
have acquired the compassionate heart of Christ.
In truth, most religious leaders are
like parents and teachers, who desire their members and children to
live a good life. At the same time, we must be humble enough to admit
that we are sinners among sinners. Those leaders who put themselves on
the pedestal and despise others who do not live a virtuous life will incur the
wrath of the community. Leaders must recognize their own poverty
and vulnerability. We must admit that as leaders, we often fall short
of what we preach. Recognizing our own limitations and sinfulness is the
preliminary step towards forgiveness.
Compassion works both
ways. Leaders, whilst
exhorting their members to live the ideals of the gospel, must be compassionate
in dealing with members who fail in their responsibility. It is often the
harshness of leaders and their lack of compassion for sinners that will bring
about their own condemnation. We must bear in mind what Jesus said, “Be
merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be
judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be
forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down,
shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the
measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Lk 6:36-38)
Secondly, the invitation to
forgive is the challenge to look beyond ourselves. Quite often, when
we are hurt, we would say that “I have been hurt, I was unjustly treated, I was
ridiculed … I…” Yes, we focus too much on ourselves. We are more
concerned about our needs, our hurts, and our rights than for others. But
the etymology of the word “forgive” already suggests that we are called to be
for giving, not for receiving. We cannot forgive unless we are willing to
give. We must give others some leeway and space to make mistakes.
After all, we expect forgiveness and understanding from others too when we fail
in our Christian conduct. So the call to forgiveness is but an invitation
to love by giving. Forgiveness therefore is to be seen as an act of real
charity. It is not simply giving of something external, but something
that is internal to us. Perhaps for this reason, forgiveness is more
difficult than works of mercy since forgiveness is the giving of our very
selves, our pride and ego.
Of course, to empty ourselves in
that act of forgiveness is humanly speaking impossible. That is
whysomething else is needed. What is it? The apostles knew
and thus said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” Indeed, we cannot
forgive others unless we grow in faith. Firstly, we need to have faith in
them. In other words, we must trust that they are sincere and truly want
to change. Like the psalmist today, we must believe in our fellow human beings
that like us, they too truly seek the face of God, and that they truly wish to
climb the mountain of the Lord and to stand in His holy place by having clean
hands and pure hearts. We must not give up hope on them because God never
gives up hope on us even when we appear to be so hopeless and incorrigible.
Secondly, we must have
faith in God. We must
trust that God can change the hearts of people. Yes, Jesus tells us
that if our faith were the size of a mustard seed, we could say or do anything
which seems impossible to us. There is nothing that God cannot do if we
have faith in Him. Once we have faith in God, then we will have faith in
man as well. Very often, the lack of faith in man boils down to the fact
that we have little faith in God. We do not believe that somehow God is
making crooked lines straight; that God will transform the scandals into
stepping stones for our personal growth, whether we are the ones causing the
scandal or the ones who are being scandalized.
Such faith, however, is
a reality only through prayer.
Only prayer can increase our faith in God and in others. Only prayer can
transform all scandals and obstacles into opportunities for personal growth,
transformation and sanctification. Yes, like Titus, we are called to be a
true child of faith in God so that we can take all scandals in stride and
employ them for greater growth in holiness.
In the final analysis, it is important to
bear in mind the words of Henri Nouwen when he wrote, “When we have been
wounded by the Church, our temptation is to reject it. But when we
reject the Church it becomes very hard for us to keep in touch with the living
Christ. When we say, ‘I love Jesus, but I hate the Church,’ we end up
losing not only the Church but Jesus too. The challenge is to forgive the
Church. This challenge is especially great because the Church seldom asks us
for forgiveness, at least not officially. But the Church as an oft-fallible
human organization needs our forgiveness, while the Church as the living Christ
among us continues to offer us forgiveness. It is important to think about the
Church not as ‘over there’ but as a community of struggling, weak people of
whom we are part and in whom we meet our Lord and Redeemer.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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