.
It’s likely that any list of names of the half dozen greatest leaders of all time would place Jesus near the top.
We learn a lot about leadership from Jesus. But his method, style, priorities and programmes are far from a standard twenty-first century catalogue of criteria of the qualities of effective leadership.
While this weekend’s celebration of Jesus’ triumphant entry to Jerusalem certainly does match a modern image of a successful hero, the Holy Week pilgrimage follows our hero through misunderstandings, denial, betrayal, abandonment by his closest followers, to suffering, and being executed as a criminal.
Clearly Jesus’ style of leadership was different, unexpected and unlikely, certainly counter-cultural.
At times he even seems to be going out of his way to aggravate the influential and respectable people of the day.
Today a candidate for a leadership position who took Jesus message and style literally would not be taken seriously and would be unlikely to make it through any selection process.
Candidates for positions of leadership who promote and embrace the teaching of Jesus – blessed are the poor and spirit, sell all you own and give your last penny to the poor, forgive your enemy and do good to those who hate you – probably don’t stand a great chance of getting seats in senates.
Why?
Because we forget that Jesus IS the ultimate leader and HIS style is the only method that demonstrates mature and convincing and contagious leadership.
But perhaps we are trapped in an understanding of leadership which has the captain of the club or the country as the strongest, fittest, loudest and most charismatic in the community.
And its also not the model for priestly leadership given by the patron of all priests, Jean Vianney, considered to be a model of priestly zeal because his focus was not on leading from the front, but in his shyness, and psychological struggles he chose to simply be with and stay with Jesus,.
St. Jean Vianney the curè d’Ars took Jesus not only seriously but also literally and sought above all else not to lead but to follow Jesus THE leader wherever HE led.
I was thinking about this on Wednesday (during our regional priests gathering which I posted about yesterday) and in the couple of days since. Priests are not called to be leaders in a worldly sense but to serve the People of God and who exercise and model leadership after the model and mind and method of Christ.
There will naturally be clergy who usefully have worldly leadership qualities, but the heart of priestly ministry will always be after the model, mind and method of Jesus.
And I caught myself thinking during our Priests’ Regional meeting this week that one of the greatest leaders in the Catholic Church was not a priest but a faith-filed courageous woman who in 1883 established a school just metres from where we were meeting in Temuka.
Pic above:
Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop
with the South Canterbury Sisters
outside the Temuka Church on her 1895 visit
+++
Send your date and time to add to the list, and just turn up at at one of the advertised gatherings, just one hour, focussing on where we are encountering Christ.
Monday 30 March 10.00am
Moko Cafe Bush Inn Centre, Waimairi Road Christchurch
Trish
I believe and am grateful for Priests who do Lead the people entrusted to their care in ways that continues to provide and promote ongoing spiritual formation of themselves and their parishioners. Encouraging people to enjoy a deeper relationship with Jesus: The Way, The Truth and The life. Our wonderful priests need the prayerful love and support of their Parishoners to fulfill their roles with Focus, Courage, Holy fervour and Authentic Joy. We rely on our priests to restore and facilitate frequent accessibility to ALL the Sacraments of the Holy Catholic Church instituted by Jesus Himself. This is what sets the Catholic Church apart from all others. Many priests are worn down by a modern world that demands constant and ever changing Faith compromises that further dilute the beauty and Grace potential offered in ALL the Sacraments of the Catholic Faith. Priests are having to find courage to supportively challenge faith tepidity (their own as well as the flocks entrusted to their care) that results from placing God on the periphery of lives rather than in the Central Place of Honour. Many Catholics support the reductionist dilution of beautiful Faith Observances and Practices, in favour of a much quicker more mechanical, and often meaningless set of Faith behaviours. These are more to be endured rather than enjoyed. This is not what Christ envisioned as His Missionary Church. Jesus is consistently the same Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow and patiently awaits us all to come and encounter Him with expectant Love, Mercy and Compassion. It is Humanity’s response to Him that changes and can easily derail our Faith journeys and experiences. Our priests and ourselves need to share the responsibility to lead ourselves and others to Jesus. The priest leads us so that we are then empowered and confident in leading others in turn to come know Our Loving Saviour and Redeemer.