WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2013 - LENTEN WEEKDAY MATTHEW 20: 17 – 28

 

1.      The natural human concern with status and importance is clearly one of the most fundamental instinct which must be unlearned by those who belong to God’s kingdom.

2.      Whether the mother herself misguided by pride in her sons, made the request or from the personal ambition of the two disciples, the request was made with the brother’s full consent.

3.      This story is also an indication that there were people other than the twelve travelling with the Lord during his ministry. The mother of the sons of Zebedee will be named among the women at the cross) 27: 56), and is presented there as one of ‘many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and looked after him (27: 55)

4.      The place on the king’s right is traditionally that of highest honour and authority, but where two people are concerned that on the left is necessarily also included without any sense of inferiority (2 Kgs 22: 19). But true nature of Jesus’ kingship is such that they are ready to be crucified along with him one on the right and the other on the left.

5.      Servant here means to be subservient, dependent on the master, owned, lacking any self-determination, at the mercy of their owner, expected to obey, powerless, with few legal rights, beaten, alienated from any legitimated social existence, without honour, despised by the elite etc.

I remember reading an anecdote from the online sermons of one of my professors. ‘It was in the afternoon, Stephen came running to his friend Mark who was having his lunch in the office and started gasping and panting heavily. ‘What happened to you’ asked Mark. You know after having a plate of Biryani (South Indian delicacy), I was coming out of the shop, a car stopped in front of the shop. A group of men with masks on their faces, started firing on all sides. Many got killed and very soon we were in the pool of blood. By God’s grace I was saved and I am here alive now’ told Stephen without a break. After a brief moment of silence Mark said to Stephen ‘So you went out to eat Biryani without me’ Jesus openly tells His disciples about his fate, which is the sole purpose of going to Jerusalem. There was no one among them who felt bad about what Jesus told them. Several times we are concerned with topics and issues which are very mean. The decision of our Holy Father to step down from the seat of greatest honour is one clear example of practicing humility and counting on things that really matter.

 

Reference

The Gospel of Matthew – R.T France

Matthew and the Margins – Warren Carter

LEADERSHIP QUALITIES OF THE CENTURION – MONDAY – 12TH SEPTEMBER – Lk 7: 1-10

A couple of days ago we were at the Basilica of Mother Mary in Shivaji Nagar. We witnessed the simple faith of people. The non-Christians were also present in big number. Quite a few non-Christians after receiving blessings from us the deacons touched and kissed our feet. This humble gesture of faith of these non-Christians truly impressed me.  This was also the case with Jesus. No wonder, of all the people the Syro-Phoenician woman and Centurion are exalted by Jesus for their deep faith.

I would like to reflect with you the leadership qualities of Centurion which could be very useful for all of us. Like it or not all of us would be leaders or already leaders in various capacities. The leadership quality of centurion is worth admiring.

He was dearly concerned for his slave who really does not deserve such a treatment. He was surely living in a time when slaves were treated worse than objects. A true leader does not undervalue anyone. The dignity he crowns on his slave can be a real lesson for all of us. Do we not call the elderly workers by name, just because we are ordained priests and are placed in charge of the workers? We pay for the work they render and we actually do not pay for the harsh words and disrespect we sometimes manifest.

As soon as he heard that Jesus was entering Capernaum, he sent the Jewish elders as the delegates. A Roman seeking the help of Jewish elders is unthinkable. A true leader should be willing to work with people from different states and cultures. He did not share the same prejudice which every Roman had towards the Jews or vice versa. In our dealings, we cannot always expect to work with people of our own culture or language. We need to rise above the petty prejudices we carry about other people.

In his act of sending the delegates he teaches us an important lesson. We need to share our responsibility. We need not carry the whole burden on our head and it also needs certain humility to ask the help of someone. When as a leader, we realize that a particular work can be done by someone better than our own selves; we need to seek the help from that person. Naturally it would be easy for the Jews to approach Jesus than the Romans.

When Jesus gets impressed by the delegates’ testimony, he decides to meet the centurion. Before he could reach him, the second batch of delegates are sent by the centurion. This time it was his friends. He does not want Jesus to take too much of trouble on his behalf. He confesses his unworthiness through his friends. He is not ashamed to explain his situation through friends. This shows how the centurion is transparent in his dealings with his friends. Every leader should be transparent in his dealings.

Centurion is not ashamed to acknowledge his capacity and power. True humility is accepting one’s strength and weakness. If a person who can sing well pretends to be a non-singer it is not humility, it is humbug. This is the false humility we learnt from wrong sources. True humility is acknowledging one’s situation. A leader should acknowledge his capacity and weakness.

Finally, those words of deep significance ‘ I am not worthy to receive you’ Every day we pray it in the Eucharist. These words bring in the element of deep faith. This is the most important quality of a leader. If a leader is not deeply rooted in God he will be a failure.

Now we realize what it means to get good name from Jesus!

WHAT WILL I GET? – 25TH JULY – MONDAY – MT: 20: 20-28

1. The natural human concern with status and importance is clearly one of the most fundamental instinct which must be unlearned by those who belong to God’s kingdom.
2. Whether the mother herself misguided by pride in her sons, made the request or from the personal ambition of the two disciples, the request was made with the brother’s full consent.
3. This story is also an indication that there were people other than the twelve travelling with the Lord during his ministry. The mother of the sons of Zebedee will be named among the women at the cross) 27: 56), and is presented there as one of ‘many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and looked after him (27: 55)
4. The place on the king’s right is traditionally that of highest honour and authority, but where two people are concerned that on the left is necessarily also included without any sense of inferiority (2 Kgs 22: 19). But true nature of Jesus’ kingship is such that they are ready to be crucified along with him one on the right and the other on the left.
5. Servant here means to be subservient, dependent on the master, owned, lacking any self-determination, at the mercy of their owner, expected to obey, powerless, with few legal rights, beaten, alienated from any legitimated social existence, without honour, despised by the elite etc.

Many a times we are utilitarian in our approach. Our relationships, our dealings, our membership in the Church and other institutions have ulterior motive. ‘What will I get out of it?’ The moment we get what we wanted we just ignore the people as if we had nothing to do with them. Even for following Jesus there could be wrong motives. If we keep only our personal salvation or personal sanctification as the central focus we could be actually using Jesus for our benefit. We need to develop communitarian approach in our dealings. We ought to respect people for what they are not for what they have.

Reference

The Gospel of Matthew – R.T France

Matthew and the Margins – Warren Carter