Word to the Wise
Wednesday, March 16, 2022 - 2nd Week of Lent - Wed
[Jer 18:18-20 and Matt 20:17-28]"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it should not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." [Matthew]
I have quoted Lord Acton's famous lines here before and consider them very a propos in regard to today's gospel scripture. "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." The "back story" to the gospel quotation is the effort of the mother of the sons of Zebedee (James and John) to secure a preferred position for her two boys in the "kingdom" that Jesus was preaching! When the other disciples hear about it, they get indignant over this "end run!" I doubt their indignation was about the effort on Mrs. Zebedee's part, but rather that she beat them to the punch! That's why Jesus calls them all together for a "pep talk" about power.
I am in my fourth appointment as a religious superior. I have also been a pastor/director five times, a formation director and a Vicar Provincial (#2 in the province). I am ever suspicious of authoritarian use of power, especially in our Church. Pope Francis says that a shepherd should be in three different places at various times: in front to lead, in the middle to encourage, and at the rear to exhort and include the stragglers. St. Augustine and our Dominican constitutions charge the superior to be primus inter pares (first among equals). Anyone who wishes to be in "leadership" should first know what "power" is about. The models James and John had in mind were characters like Caesar and Herod and other Middle Eastern rulers. Jesus refers to Roman and Greek rulers.
Jesus speaks of power as the opportunity to serve. He washed the feet of the disciples at the Last Supper (John 13) and said, "Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do." [John 13:12-15] THAT is the standard of power. AMEN