Gospel Reflection for October 5 2014
Today’s Gospel offers a dire warning for those who misuse authority.
Who would ever want to do that? It is a tremendous honor and privilege to lead others. If you have some authority over others, whether at work or as a parent, you have an awesome and wonderful gift to guide people along a path of good moral behavior that will make them happy. Your words and deeds will be remembered by your children or employees for years to come. Think of the multiplier effect you have. One person in charge can positively affect so many people. You have the chance to make the world a much better place!
That works in reverse as well. You can adversely affect people in the wrong way and greatly multiply negative effects. Your bad behavior and discouraging leadership can dishearten people and turn them away from all that is good.
Jesus has seen all too often how that has happened in the past and He does not want that to happen now by those whom He chooses to lead the church. He wants good leaders who will study and learn the ways of good leadership that will help people flourish and find happiness. His parable in today’s Gospel clearly indicates He will not tolerate those who do not lead well. Simply put, bad leaders will be removed.
Leadership is in the news a lot these days. We see bad leaders of radical Islamic terrorists in the Middle East who terribly oppress people in unimaginably cruel ways. Slowly, international leaders are joining forces to remove them, just as the Gospel says they should be. While good people can debate the merits of this or that plan, at least the intent is right to remove them.
We may not have much say in how that international coalition acts over there, but we do have everything to say about how we lead and act in our world of family or work here. Let us learn the lessons that Jesus teaches about how to lead the people in our own world. (see Luke 10)
That is the goal of my project to write a “How-to” manual for parish priests during my sabbatical year. I want to help pastors lead in a way that inspires parishioners to be the best followers of Christ they can be. Last week, I asked you to offer your ideas about how a pastor can be that kind of leader. Feel free to continue to send those ideas to me.
You can write as much or as little as you like in a general message, or you can simply reply to the following questions.
- What would I like to tell a new pastor who is arriving in my parish?
- Describe a memory of a great experience with a priest or pastor.
- Describe a memory of a bad experience with a priest or pastor.
- Please add any other ideas that you might have.
I want to make sure that the dire warning of Jesus never applies to any pastor of any parish!
God Bless!
Fr. Dave
Thank you for this reflection Father Dave! Leadership begins with one’s own body, and making it a fit and habitable place for the Holy Spirit to dwell. Proper food, water, exercise, clothing, and attitude are important aspects of the Holy Spirit within us. We can only truly care for and lead others when we truly care for and lead ourselves as we are being with the Lord.
What would I like to tell a new pastor who is arriving in my parish?
I would tell him that after many years as our shepherd we have come to love our old pastor and are often mourning his leave. Give his new parishioners time to get to know him. The old pastor was once a newbie himself. I would tell him to observe what happens in his new parish (ministries, social activities, etc.) and ask him not to try to add his own stamp too quickly but try to support the activities already in place. Trying to add his own stamp too quickly or commenting negatively on things already in place can only breed resentment. I would also say to smile as he walks down the aisle and say hello. You have no idea how much this little acknowledgement means to parishioners.
Describe a memory of a great experience with a priest or pastor
I remember Father Dave’s support of our ministries (Respect Life, Shoeboxes, I.C.F. and choir). I will never forget Father Peter, in his vestments, in a drizzle, carrying shoeboxes to the hall. I also smile when I remember Father Thai stopping, as I sat in the aisle, after surgery. I had not been able to go to confession and was feeling very sad. He stopped and said I could confess right then. I cried but was so grateful for his caring. I could fill a page with just this since I have known many wonderful priests.
Describe a bad memory of a bad experience with a priest or pastor
Our choir was shocked to learn that our pastor (Monsignor George) decided to fire our director and had the new director inform him of this decision. It was done by the new man at a dinner given for him by the old director. Since a number of choir members wanted to help the old director, they sang at his new church as well as St. Paschal’s. They were told they could only sing at one church. This led to a mass exodus to the old leader’s church where we stayed until the pastor left. Another bad experience occurred when we went to that pastor to arrange for a wedding for our daughter. The pastor asked the groom- to- be if he really wanted to marry our daughter since she seemed very nervous. We were, of course, very insulted. He also felt he should be monitoring the treasury of the I.C.F. This isn’t done by any pastor that I know of.
Although many parishes are very busy and the pastor may feel overwhelmed, it is a good thing to try to attend some meetings of the various ministries. It will also benefit a new pastor to seek help from his parishioners-they will be delighted to help and he will get to know his flock more quickly. I would also add that Mass scheduled for Christmas Eve might be better at a little earlier hour since most choir members are often older and this creates a difficulty. My last recommendation would be to be approachable. This can have many rewards since it is then easier to ask for help when help is needed.
Hope this helps. Miss you!
Della and Gino
Dear Della and Gino,
I agree with your comments in many ways. I think that we feel that our parish is a loving, loveable place, and we don’t want its delicacy to be disturbed. But as in our personal lives, we face changes that challenge our peace of mind. Could this be a way that God uses to help us grow? I say, “bring on your change and let us handle it!”
You know how emotional I am, but a Pastor has to be in tune with his people that requires communication, compassion, humility, and I could go on and on. We had that in you, Father Joe, Father Thai, Father Abebe, and Father James. We couldn’t have had it any better than this..
Yourself and Father Joe have given so much to everyone at SPB. This is the only Catholic church I ever went to and I have loved it ever since. We need more priests like you to bring people back to the faith.
The others Father Jim Stehly, you can’t get a more compassion
ate person than him. Father Tim Nicholes won everyone over with his ways of connecting to the people.
Good : Father O”’Ryan was one of our best, compassionate to people’s needs and was always there to talk to you when you needed help. He was a shepherd of his people and loved being a priest/pastor.
Thank you Fr. Dave for the reflections on the Gospel. They are so helpful in getting us to think about what
they mean.
A good leader leads by word and example. “By their fruits you shall know them” God gives us grace and He
expects us to return that grace to Him in doing good works. It is deplorable to se the leaders of the terrorist
groups in the Middle East carrying out their atrocities and not following the way of the Lord.
Thanks for writing! YEs, the terrorists are excellent at leading the people the wrong way. We see the fruits of their leadership in unimaginable cruelty. Hopefully, world leaders will end bring an end to them.
Thank you, Fr Dave
Good reflection on today’s Gospel,. At our parish of OLA, Fr. Beto also added his Respect Life message as today was the start of Respect Life October. Hearing that 70 million babies have died since R v Wade should help the parishioners to think twice about the idea of many Catholic’s being “Pro-Choice” and hopefully help them to make their “choice” be for Life! Blessings, Patty
Hello! A few years ago, on the fortieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, our parish Pro-Life Committee organized a dramatic procession at the start of Mass made up of exactly forty people, each person marched in according to their own birth year one for each year since 1973. A person born in 1973 was flowed by a person born in 1974, and so on. It was very powerfully done.
Fr. Marc Angelo gave a very inspirational sermon today at St. Paschal Baylon. He stated that everyone needs to stop sleeping and pay attention to God’s voice speaking to them. He also stated that we need to put away our cell phones and ipads. They are too much of a distraction from our spirituality, He also stressed the importance of us to be mentally present during the mass. He notices that too many people come late or leave mass early. He said that people today are running around from one activity to the next. We need to devote at least one hour to God at the mass. Fr. Marc is an example of a good priest because his sermons are very candid. He makes people wake up and listen. After his sermon everyone clapped.