By Fr Dexter Brereton, CSSp ThM STL
Passion or Palm Sunday presents us with the account of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ from one of the Canonical Gospels, Matthew Mark or Luke. Since these readings are fairly long, it is useful to meditate on those segments of the drama which attract our notice, which evoke deep responses in us.
This year, reading from the passion account according to Luke, my eyes were drawn to the table conversation between Jesus and his disciples. Even there, in this moment of danger, it seems that there was a quarrel among them about which of them was the greatest. This prompts Jesus to say: “Among the pagans it is the kings who lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are given the title Benefactor. This must not happen with you. No; the greatest among you must behave as if he were the youngest, the leader as if he were the one who serves. For who is the greater: the one at table or the one who serves? The one at table, surely? Yet here I am among you as one who serves!”
As I read these words of Jesus I am literally surrounded by the blur of activity taking place at the main parish church in preparation for the celebration of Holy Week. I find myself incredibly grateful for the ministry of leadership being exercised all around me in so many different ways. There are those who make the physical arrangements for our liturgies, those who select the music and practice the choir, those who train the altar servers, those who train our youths for the dramatization of the passion. These are the ones, like Jesus who are among us, the People of God, ‘as one who serves.’
As I reflect on my own role as parish priest – as teacher and pastor – it occurs to me that as the parish’s main leader, I enhance my own leadership by respecting, honouring and encouraging the leadership of others. Behaving as if I were the ‘youngest’ for me means that God has invited me here to the parish of St Francis, not so much to ‘rebuild his church’ as much as to give him praise and honour for his Spirit and his activity in all his human servants. I am called to lead by blessing others, and reminding them that they are blessed and that the Church is very blessed to have them. Jesus’ words are also a powerful commentary on the style of leadership popular in the world today, in politics and even in the church. Among the pagans it is the kings who lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are given the title Benefactor.
Many modern leaders are prone to much posturing and self-aggrandizement. In the clothes they wear, the language they use or in the countless meetings that they call, they emphasize their own importance and status. Today, on Palm Sunday we give God thanks for his Son Jesus Christ who is truly the model of all true leadership, the Holy One mounted on the foal of a donkey.
