Word to the Wise
Saturday, October 6, 2012 - Saturday in the 26th Week in Ordinary Time
[Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17 and Luke 10:17-24]"Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name!" "Jesus said, "....Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven." [Luke]
The "seventy-two disciples" that Luke reports Jesus sending out come back feeling a "power rush!" "Even the demons are subject to us!" Jesus has to calm them down! They are having one of the most important and dangerous experiences that anyone in a helping profession can have - power OVER someone or something! This experience can shape the way a doctor, lawyer, teacher or minister - anyone in a service profession - sees their work. This is especially true at the beginning of their "career." In our church, I believe that almost every difficulty that we encounter in ministry is due to a question of "power" and how it is to be used.
When I give a retreat for priests, permanent deacons or candidates for either of those positions of ministry, I spend some time speaking about the challenges that face them, but I point out that most of these challenges can be summed up in the word, POWER. It is not just a matter of being able to administer the sacred rituals of our faith - the sacraments - but exercising the power of leadership as well. Further dangers come in not being aware of what it is that makes a minister FEEL "powerful." He or she is likely to gravitate to those experiences and can make the lives of others very difficult. To take the example of today's gospel, one might imagine the disciples running around trying to find "demons" to cast out in Jesus' name because it makes them feel powerful! This search for power can mask the "flip side" of ministry (or other professions), namely the feeling of helplessness when all those "powerful" efforts come to nothing! Jesus' advice is one that emphasizes the long term - "your names are being written in heaven..." Keeping this in mind can go a long way toward accomplishing the original goal, which is to preach the gospel, not to feel powerful! AMEN
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