20260801 SELF-SERVING LEADERSHIP
01 August 2026, Saturday, 17th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Jeremiah 26:11-16,24 |
'This man has spoken to us in the name of the Lord'
The priests and prophets addressed the officials and all the people, ‘This man deserves to die, since he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.’
Jeremiah, however, replied to the people as follows:
‘The Lord himself sent me to say all the things you have heard against this Temple and this city. So now amend your behaviour and actions, listen to the voice of the Lord your God: if you do, he will relent and not bring down on you the disaster he has pronounced against you. For myself, I am as you see in your hands. Do whatever you please or think right with me. But be sure of this, that if you put me to death, you will be bringing innocent blood on yourselves, on this city and on its citizens, since the Lord has truly sent me to you to say all these words in your hearing.’
The officials and all the people then said to the priests and prophets, ‘This man does not deserve to die: he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.’
Jeremiah had a protector in Ahikam son of Shaphan, so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 68(69):15-16,30-31,33-34 |
In your great love, answer me, O God.
Rescue me from sinking in the mud;
save me from my foes.
Save me from the waters of the deep
lest the waves overwhelm me.
Do not let the deep engulf me
nor death close its mouth on me.
In your great love, answer me, O God.
As for me in my poverty and pain
let your help, O God, lift me up.
I will praise God’s name with a song;
I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
In your great love, answer me, O God.
The poor when they see it will be glad
and God-seeking hearts will revive;
for the Lord listens to the needy
and does not spurn his servants in their chains.
In your great love, answer me, O God.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Lk8:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are those who,
with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves
and yield a harvest through their perseverance.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 14:1-12 |
The beheading of John the Baptist
Herod the tetrarch heard about the reputation of Jesus, and said to his court, ‘This is John the Baptist himself; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.’
Now it was Herod who had arrested John, chained him up and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. For John had told him, ‘It is against the Law for you to have her.’ He had wanted to kill him but was afraid of the people, who regarded John as a prophet. Then, during the celebrations for Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and so delighted Herod that he promised on oath to give her anything she asked. Prompted by her mother she said, ‘Give me John the Baptist’s head, here, on a dish.’ The king was distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he ordered it to be given her, and sent and had John beheaded in the prison. The head was brought in on a dish and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. John’s disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went off to tell Jesus.
SELF-SERVING LEADERSHIP
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [JER 26:11-16,24; MT 14:1-12]
It is never easy to be a true prophet of God. We will always face opposition, even in ministry, because of jealousy and selfishness. We are certain to be persecuted and hated. The people who wanted to put Jeremiah to death were not even the rulers or the general public whom Jeremiah condemned, but rather the priests and false prophets who opposed the truth. This is true for us all: the people who oppose us often come from our own ranks and organisation. It is not people as a whole who oppose us, but specifically those whose interests are compromised.
This happens mainly due to four reasons: jealousy and insecurity, along with pride and selfish interests. King Herod was afraid of John the Baptist because John had become too popular. Herod feared that the people might follow John instead, potentially starting a revolution that would cost Herod his power and authority. So, he had John arrested and imprisoned. Yet, Herod knew John was a man of God, and because of the crowd, he did not dare to kill him right away. John was a thorn in his side. Indeed, all of us get jealous easily when others are perceived to be better than us–even more so if you are a leader and know someone else is more capable. Your position feels threatened.
For Herodias, her ego was deeply wounded. John the Baptist had exposed her sin of adultery, causing her to lose face. She became vindictive and wanted that thorn removed so she could continue living in honour rather than disgrace. She wanted to live with dignity, but in truth, she was deceiving herself–living a delusion. This, too, is true for us all. We do not like people pointing out our sins or reminding us of our imperfections. That is why some people resist going to Confession; their pride and fear of shame hold them back. We do not mind criticising ourselves, but we take offense when others criticise us. Herod was also a slave to his pride when he refused to retract the oath he made to Herodias’ daughter. An oath to do evil is invalid; yet, to display his power, he carried out this evil deed anyway.
As for the prophets and priests, they also had vested interests. They stood to lose their positions and privileges if the people started believing Jeremiah. We all seek security in life; we want to live comfortably and free from those who control us. Some of us are unwilling to step down from office because we have grown accustomed to the privileges that come with it. We fear we cannot live without them, so we cling to power. Even in the Church, we hold tightly to authority. I often wonder why some people refuse to step down when there are younger and better-equipped individuals who could do a more effective job. My constant conviction is that the best man or woman should serve in the role. In reality, though, we often cling to power not for service, but for ourselves–even while masking it in the name of service. The day we step down, we cease to enjoy special treatment, including the bishop! But true service is not about us!
Jealousy, pride, insecurity, and self-interest always lead to greater evil, including vindictiveness and violence. That is precisely what happened to the priests, false prophets, Herod, and Herodias. They were willing to do anything to eliminate the disruption, even when they knew the prophet was speaking the truth. They stooped so low as to use innocent people to condemn the prophet: the priests sought to use the rulers and the crowd to execute Jeremiah, while Herodias used her own innocent daughter as a tool to demand the head of John the Baptist. Similarly, weak politicians and corrupt governments will do whatever it takes to eliminate opponents, regardless of how good or talented those opponents might be for the country.
What about us? Do we want to follow that same path? Do we manipulate innocent people, especially the young, to fulfil our own ambitions and selfish needs? Do we harbour destructive or murderous thoughts in our minds? If we do, we will never find peace, just like Herod. He lived in guilt and fear for the rest of his life because he knew he had done wrong. He could not reconcile his sins of adultery and murder, even experiencing hallucinations that John the Baptist had returned. Guilt destroys us from the inside out. This explains why sin carries its own built-in punishment: where there is guilt, there can be no peace.
The truth is that our conscience cannot be silenced indefinitely. We must not pretend or try to suppress the truth. Even ordinary people instinctively know right from wrong; that is why the collective conscience of the people rejected the priests’ and prophets’ demands to execute Jeremiah. The sensus fidei must be trusted, especially when authority figures become corrupt or blind. As leaders, we must remain sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit while also staying receptive to the voices on the ground.
We are called to be like John the Baptist and Jeremiah. Let our lives be our defence if our words fail us. We need to be true to ourselves and do what is right, not what is popular. We must have the courage to speak truth to power when those in authority are wrong!
However, we must speak the truth in charity. Truth must always be spoken in love and with love–this is the ultimate litmus test of truth. If we speak out of anger and resentment, there is likely no truth in it, only self-interest and revenge. We should speak only when there is no personal gain, driven purely by love for God and the good of others. Jeremiah defended himself by saying: “The Lord himself sent me to say all the things you have heard against this Temple and this city. So now amend your behaviour and actions, listen to the voice of the Lord your God: if you do, he will relent and not bring down on you the disaster he has pronounced against you.”
Finally, before you claim to speak the truth–and before you use it as an excuse to air your own personal grievances–make sure you have prayed and truly listened to the Word of God. This is what Jeremiah and John the Baptist did. If we have not listened to His Word first, we are merely noise without substance. To find the courage to proclaim the truth, we must first learn to listen. Only when we have heard the Word of God for ourselves can we proclaim the truth with confidence and without fear. Then, like Jeremiah, we can surrender our fate entirely to God: “For myself, I am as you see in your hands. Do whatever you please or think right with me. But be sure of this, that if you put me to death, you will be bringing innocent blood on yourselves, on this city and on its citizens, since the Lord has truly sent me to you to say all these words in your hearing.”
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
