Palm Sunday Teaches True Public Service

(By Fr. Dexter Brereton)

Jesus’ Message To Politicians – Seek To Serve And Not Be Served

Many years ago, the constituents in the area where I lived before joining the priesthood held a nighttime meeting with their member of parliament (congress) who at that time was also a minister of government. It was fairly late, well after 9:00 o’clock when she appeared. She informed us that she was at parliament all day, she had not yet had supper and was still anxious to go home to her husband and children whom she had not yet seen.

I was frankly quite impressed and it was a very good introduction to the concept of “public service” as well as the possibilities and the sacrifices involved. Later I would join the public service myself and I would personally witness how these women and men often spent long hours on the job, above and beyond the call of duty in order to keep the public connected with the services provided by the state.

The notion of public service as a life requiring considerable personal sacrifice finds powerful resonance in the reading of the Passion according to Mark which we have this Palm Sunday. For my reflection I chose the section of the passion that gives an account of the Last Supper. We read:  “…then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks, he gave it to them and all drank from it and he said to them, ‘This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many…” The image which arrests my imagination is the one of the ‘blood which is poured out’. In the theology of Mark, anyone drinking of that Eucharistic cup was being asked to enter into the same dynamic of suffering service to others that was so much a part of Jesus’ life.

This is precisely the action of a good “public servant” – a man or woman who is so interested in the public good that he or she is willing to work long hours after dark, at times sacrificing the closeness of family to make sure that the public is cared for. This is what Jesus means saying that is blood is “poured out for many”. We are all invited today to imitate Jesus’ earthly mission by pouring out our lives for many.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

In recent days I have been reflecting on the fact that one gets the impression that politics in my own country is becoming less and less about “public service” or “pouring out our lives for many” and more like a “blood sport” where the soul obsession is to rise to power even though we may have to cut the throats of our political adversaries (as well as those of innocent people) along the way. We must “ascend” at all costs.

As general elections in our country draw nigh, recent public utterances by politicians have angered the public and generated much controversy. For those of us out there interested in the field of politics, I wish to draw a few reminders from the Church’s teaching:

The ultimate end of human society is the human person.(CCC 1929)  This person made in the image and likeness of God is blessed with transcendent dignity. Without respect for human dignity social life in a just society is hardly possible. (CCC 1930).  From this dignity flows all human rights among which is the right to a good name, good reputation and to respect. (CCC 2479). Rash judgment, calumny (making stuff up), and detraction (revealing the faults of others for no good reason) are all offenses against the truth (CCC 2477) and wound human dignity. These are all very serious sins. They become still more grave when committed against people not involved in the political fray. Our long experience as a nation shows us that long after the words have died away, long after the loudspeakers have fallen silent and the electoral jerseys and other symbols put away, the wounds from vile, rashly made insults continue to cause problems in our social fabric. Living a normal social life together becomes all the more difficult if during the elections we have spent time mangling people’s reputations, including those of the innocent or causing elected officials to be held in contempt or ridicule.

Please, let us imitate Christ the Son of Man who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matt 20: 28)