Take up your cross, let not its weightFill your weak spirit with alarms;
His strength shall bear your spirit up,
Shall brace your heart and nerve your arm.
(Charles William Everest 1814-1877)
Today's Gospel
His strength shall bear your spirit up,
Shall brace your heart and nerve your arm.
(Charles William Everest 1814-1877)
Today's Gospel
Let us begin with a question: Do Christians, particularly Roman Catholics, see other Catholics, other Christians who have been "anointed" with particular leadership roles as men and women who lives are easily recognized as models of service? In particular those men and women elected by the citizenry to serve in the House of Representatives, the Senate or the Executive Branch as well as those chosen by the Catholic Church to serve as priests, bishops or Cardinals --- are these women and men recognized by the people as good leaders? Are these same people marked by the key characteristic of leadership --- men and women genuinely concerned about how they serve others? Are we who hold such offices genuinely alert to the challenges that position, power or prestige place before us each day of our lives in whatever "office" it is that we seek to lead? Are we the kind of people who look back to yesterday to make sure the "service" is the mark of our leadership? Are we the kind of people who look to today's opportunities to serve those in need? Or, upon honest reflection, do we allow pride, arrogance and gain damage whatever efforts we put forward to serve others?
While these thoughts seem directed only toward government and church leadership, those who work with any of these "leadership" folk also share the duty to be men and woman of the genuine service character. How easily we can turn from the persistent paranoid who hounds the boss. How easily we can attempt to make the way for only the "special" people to have access to the boss. How easy it is to hide that which sometimes seems so very difficult from those who need to know what is true.
Jesus is the pre-eminent leader of the Christian world. He has demonstrated for all of us the kind of leadership we should seek to have as the mark of a career when he washed the dirty and smelly feet of the disciples before the Holy Thursday supper. Do we look at our Church and State leadership and see the same kind of dedicated service to others?
All of us might ask ourselves today these questions: "How is my life marked by this Christ-like service to those in need?" Is this a hard question that demands so much self-awareness and honesty? You can bet on that! How is your life marked by Christ-like service?
While these thoughts seem directed only toward government and church leadership, those who work with any of these "leadership" folk also share the duty to be men and woman of the genuine service character. How easily we can turn from the persistent paranoid who hounds the boss. How easily we can attempt to make the way for only the "special" people to have access to the boss. How easy it is to hide that which sometimes seems so very difficult from those who need to know what is true.
Jesus is the pre-eminent leader of the Christian world. He has demonstrated for all of us the kind of leadership we should seek to have as the mark of a career when he washed the dirty and smelly feet of the disciples before the Holy Thursday supper. Do we look at our Church and State leadership and see the same kind of dedicated service to others?
All of us might ask ourselves today these questions: "How is my life marked by this Christ-like service to those in need?" Is this a hard question that demands so much self-awareness and honesty? You can bet on that! How is your life marked by Christ-like service?
