20190206
CRISIS
IN MORAL AND SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP
06 FEBRUARY,
2019, Wednesday, 4th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Red.
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First reading
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Hebrews 12:4-7,11-15 ©
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God is training you as his sons
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In the fight against sin, you have not yet
had to keep fighting to the point of death.
Have
you forgotten that encouraging text in which you are addressed as sons? My
son, when the Lord corrects you, do not treat it lightly; but do not get
discouraged when he reprimands you. For the Lord trains the ones that he loves
and he punishes all those that he acknowledges as his sons. Suffering
is part of your training; God is treating you as his sons. Has there ever been
any son whose father did not train him? Of course, any punishment is most
painful at the time, and far from pleasant; but later, in those on whom it has
been used, it bears fruit in peace and goodness. So hold up your limp
arms and steady your trembling knees and smooth out the path
you tread;then the injured limb will not be wrenched, it will grow strong
again.
Always
be wanting peace with all people, and the holiness without which no one can
ever see the Lord. Be careful that no one is deprived of the grace of God and
that no root of bitterness should begin to grow and make trouble; this
can poison a whole community.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
102(103):1-2,13-14,17-18 ©
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The love of the Lord is
everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord
all my being, bless his holy
name.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord
and never forget all his
blessings.
The love of the Lord is
everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.
As a father has compassion on his sons,
the Lord has pity on those who
fear him;
for he knows of what we are made,
he remembers that we are dust.
The love of the Lord is
everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.
But the love of the Lord is everlasting
upon those who hold him in
fear;
his justice reaches out to children’s children
when they keep his covenant in
truth.
The love of the Lord is
everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt4:4
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the
mouth of God.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Jn10:27
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my
voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 6:1-6 ©
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'A prophet is only despised in his own
country'
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Jesus went to his home town and his
disciples accompanied him. With the coming of the sabbath he began teaching in
the synagogue and most of them were astonished when they heard him. They said,
‘Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him,
and these miracles that are worked through him? This is the carpenter, surely,
the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His
sisters, too, are they not here with us?’ And they would not accept him. And
Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his
own relations and in his own house’; and he could work no miracle there, though
he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their
lack of faith.
CRISIS IN MORAL
AND SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ HEB 12:4-15; PS 103:1-2,13-14,17-18; MARK 6:1-6 ]
In the gospel, we read
of how Jesus was rejected by His own townsfolks. His own people were prejudiced against
Him. They knew Him as the son of a carpenter and one of them. They
“were astonished when they heard him. They said, ‘Where did the man get all
this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that
are worked through him? This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the
brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not
here with us?’ And they would not accept him.”
Indeed, when a leader is
not accepted by the people he ministers to, he cannot get anything done. Whatever he says is heard with
skepticism and suspicions. In such a situation, one cannot expect a
leader to lead, to motivate or to win over the hearts of the people. If
the people are not with the leader, he cannot lead. There is nothing he
can do well without the support of his people. When he is rejected, he
also loses confidence in himself. He will feel misunderstood, unappreciated
and useless. Whatever zeal he has will be lost because he gets
discouraged, disillusioned and resentful. So we can appreciate why when
Jesus was rejected, “he could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick
people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.”
If this happened to our
Lord, what more can we expect of the leaders in our day, especially those in
public service, namely, political and religious leaders? Unlike Jesus, our leaders are not
perfect. Leaders are equally sinners like the rest of humanity.
Leaders too, have a past and a history of doing wrong things in their
lives. Even all great saints were once great sinners. However,
today, the world’s expectations of leaders are unrealistic. At least for
corporate and sometimes even for political leaders, because of the desire for
economic prosperity, the world can tolerate corporate and political leaders who
live immoral lives privately. So long as they are able to bring economic
prosperity to the organization or country and they do not commit fraud or
use their power for their vested interest, all other sins can be tolerated;
whether gambling, alcoholism, womanizing, and all the other vices.
The world knows that if they were to look for a leader with morality and
without fault, no one would be able to assume either corporate or political
leadership. The corporate organization and the country would be left
without any leaders!
So moral leadership
today is only expected from religious leaders. Because religious leaders preach
and teach morality, the world assumes religious leaders to be conceived without
original sin and remain sinless throughout their lives. A religious
leader who has a past history of sins would be exposed publicly even if he has
repented and are lving a new life. He would be discredited and
exposed. Today, every sin or inappropriate behavior or conduct of a
religious leader will go viral in the social media. Some are half-truths,
others are simply fake news or presumptuous judgment of people. Of
course, some could be true. Nevertheless, they are circulated like wild
fire, destroying the integrity of the leader and diminishing his
authority. As for the poor religious leader, if he were to fight back, he
would appear to be defensive or lacking compassion. If he were to keep
quiet, people would assume the half-truths to be the truth. So he is in a
dilemma.
Indeed, today, the devil
uses social media to his favour by making use of it as an instrument to destroy
the credibility of leaders.
The twofold strategy of the Evil One is to destroy the institutions of marriage
and family; and the public and religious institutions by making people lose
trust in the leaders. Of course, we know that the devil likes to work
with half-truths and lies. This is what the Lord said, “He was a murderer
from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of
lies.” (Jn 8:44) Those who
spread half-truths and make presumptuous judgments are unwittingly being made
use of by the devil to destroy the credibility of leaders so that society would
be left rudderless. Those who think that they are doing the people of God
or the nation a service by attacking the leaders publicly, are in fact are
destroying all confidence in leadership, especially when it is not a serious
offence or crime that was committed.
As a consequence, it
would be more and more difficult to find religious leaders anymore. Destroying the religious leaders is
the last bastion of the devil to overcome, having already destroyed the
credibility of corporate and political leaders. Once religious leaders
lose all credibility, no one would be able to preach or teach morality.
Relativism rules the day. No one would know what truth is, but act
according to one’s individualistic preferences. When religious
leaders are expected to be perfect and be without sin, who wants to be a
religious leader? He would always be under public scrutiny and sometimes
misjudged by presumptuous and self-righteous people. More so for us
Catholics, because our priests and religious are expected to serve the people
without condition, all day and all night, without remuneration. They are
to observe celibacy, poverty and obedience. With such demands and
unrealistic expectations from the people of God, it would take a saint
conceived without sin to join the priestly and religious life. Eventually,
the Church would be without any leaders and Christianity would be destroyed.
Are we then to surrender
in defeat to the strategy of the Evil One and allow him to destroy the last
bastion of faith and morals? On one hand, religious leaders must seek to
remove the prejudices of the world by striving for holiness and fighting
against sin. The
letter to the Hebrews said, “In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to
keep fighting in to the point of bloodshed. Have you forgotten that encouraging
text in which you are addressed as sons?” Leaders therefore need to
strive for integrity of life, which is what holiness is all about, living a
holistic life, when faith and life are one. This is what the author of
Hebrew is encouraging us. “Seek peace with all people, and the holiness
without which no one can ever see the Lord. Be careful that no one is deprived
of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness should begin to grow and
make trouble; this can poison a large number.” Religious leaders must
endeavor to live a life of holiness so that we can avoid scandals and prevent
gossips from taking place.
Yet, even if leaders
seek to live a righteous life, there will be times when they will be judged,
wrongfully or even rightly for their failures, and often publicly exposed as
well. What
can religious leaders do? There is nothing much they can do but to suffer
in silence and do what they can to control the damage caused by such attacks on
their integrity. To do more would be to allow the devil to publicize the
scandal, apparent or real. This is where prudence must be
exercised. Such prudence requires deep humility and objectivity on the
part of the person being accused, falsely or rightly.
However, one must not
fall into resentment in the process. This
is what the first reading is warning us. “My son, do not scorn correction
from the Lord, do not resent his training, for the Lord trains those he loves,
and chastises every son he accepts. Perseverance is part of your
training; God is treating you as his sons. Our human fathers were training us
for a short life and according to their own lights; but he does it all for our
own good, so that we may share his own holiness. Of course, any discipline is
at the time a matter for grief, not joy; but later, in those who have undergone
it, it bears fruit in peace and uprightness.” We need to take all our
trials, the ridicules, the slanders and humiliation as means for purification
of our sins if we have done wrong, or growth in holiness and mortifications for
the salvation of souls if we have been misjudged and falsely accused.
Indeed, at the end of
the day, let us find joy not in what people say about us but what we feel the
Lord thinks of us. “If
our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he
knows everything. If our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before
God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his
commands and do what pleases him.” (1 Jn 3:20f) The author exhorts us, “So
steady all weary hands and trembling knees and make your crooked paths
straight; then the injured limb will not be maimed, it will get better
instead.” Instead of blaming society for losing faith in religious
leaders, let religious leaders strive for holiness and integrity, and
eventually we will heal the injured limb of our people as well. With the
psalmist, we trust in the Lord. “As a father has compassion on his sons,
the Lord has pity on those who fear him; for he knows of what we are made, he
remembers that we are dust. But the love of the Lord is everlasting upon
those who hold him in fear; his justice reaches out to children’s children when
they keep his covenant in truth.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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