Word to the Wise
Saturday, August 21, 2010 - St. Pius X, pope
[Ezekiel 43:1-7ab and Matthew 23:1-12]The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
It has been my fate at times to be called to a position of power either as a religious superior or pastor. I cannot say that I have found it a comfortable fate. There is the satisfaction of being able to accomplish certain pastoral goals, but every position of power/responsibility carries with it the burden of governance of other persons who either need too much governance or want too little of it - sometimes both at the same time! I do not envy the good man who was recently elected by our provincial chapter to serve as our Prior Provincial for the next four years, nor the man who will be chosen the new Master of the Order (our head man in Rome) next month. His fate is a nine year term! In point of fact, it is getting more and more difficult to get brothers to accept positions of religious superior or pastor. Power is attractive to certain kinds of folks, but they are not the kind one wants to have in charge! Jesus' words, quoted above, come true almost immediately when the requests start pouring in for this and that. Inevitably some decisions are not popular and the "humbling" process begins in earnest! A casual reading of the gospel will show how the disciples themselves were not immune to the attractions of power and Jesus had to remind them of what happens to anyone wishing to have power in the Kingdom of God! We owe it to any leadership we choose (or have chosen for us, at times) to give them the benefit of affirmation and challenge with the intention of helping them in their responsibility. Any challenges made from personal envy or political ideology do little to help and a lot to make the job more difficult. Lord Acton, a prominent British Catholic layperson, wrote to a British bishop in the 19th century, "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely." He was referring to Pope Pius IX!! But he could have been speaking of a local mayor! We who are subject to governance have a responsibility to make sure that power doesn't corrupt the leader, just has he or she has a responsibility to use that power so that they don't corrupt us! AMEN
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