Word to the Wise
Saturday, February 7, 2009 - Saturday in the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
[Hebrews 13:15-17, 20-21 and Mark 6:30-34]Obey your leaders and defer to them, for they keep watch over you and will have to give an account, that they may fulfill their task with joy and not with sorrow, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Ask anyone in authority in religious life now and they will tell you plenty about the difficulties of that role! In the Dominican Order, we have a unique system whereby in houses of a certain size, we elect our local leader, who is called the Conventual Prior (or more commonly, "The Prior!") In recent times, the head of the friars in Rome, the Master of the Order, in letters to the order, has spoken of the difficulty that houses in the order are having in finding someone to assume the burden of office! Indeed, it may be easier to find a regional superior (known as "The Provincial") than it is to find a local Prior. A wise Provincial once told me that he considered that local job to be the hardest in the Order. Having served in the capacity of a local Prior twice in my life, I would not argue with his assessment. A Prior has a lot of power and this makes the brethren uneasy. How does one exercise that power in a spirit of service so that the brothers feel secure and content but also feel challenged to grow in their life as Dominicans and in their ministry to God's people? Bishops face the same challenge in regard to the diocesan clergy in their diocese. In the case of Dominicans, there are some brothers who show the requisite constellation of patience, flexibility and firmness who keep being elected here and there over and over again until they simply burn out! The words from the Letter to the Hebrews today should be on the wall of any Dominican Priory and at least given some attention by all of us. While we Dominicans are democratic in our leadership selection, that does not guarantee a good result. What is important is that the right person be found and that they be supported in their role "that they may fulfill their task with joy and not with sorrow, for that would be of no advantage to you!" To that I hope we can all say, "AMEN!"
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