St. Augustine of Hippo was one of the foundational thinkers of Western Civilization. He was also a bishop in North Africa, in the waning years of the Roman Empire, when more and more of the administrative responsibility for the running of society fell to the Church authorities. As bishop, he had to serve as a judge as well, overseeing a variety of cases.
St. Augustine did not enjoy exercising authority over others. He felt that human beings ruling over each other was a necessary element of our fallen nature, but that in Heaven, we will be equal before the throne of Christ. He saw good leadership as servant leadership. The servant leader exercises authority not for his own gain or self-aggrandizement but for serving others, seeking to ensure their well-being.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is the prime example of the servant leader. He seeks for all of his lost sheep. He lays his life down for his sheep. In return for our disobedience, he offers himself as the sacrifice for our sins. He nourishes us with his own divine being in the Eucharist and he invites us into eternal life, filled with absolute joy.
As we can see from the Gospels, the people at the time of Jesus did not have good shepherds to lead them. Nor have most others in the long course of human history. Good shepherds have been few and far between. In fact, one of the signs of the coming of the Messiah was that the poor would have the good news preached to them. Historically, when the poor have been addressed by those in power, they were told why their situation was good for them or was their fault. They rarely received a message of hope.
No wonder that the lowly, the poor, the downtrodden, flocked to Jesus. They recognized in him the Good Shepherd, whose desire was their well-being. At the same time, those who wielded power in his society mostly opposed Jesus, because his teaching challenged them and convicted them of their self-serving behavior. Jesus opposed the bad shepherds of society through his words and showed the true meaning of being a shepherd through his own life and self-sacrifice.
Throughout Church history, the clergy, who stand in the place of Christ in our lives, have sought to emulate the example of Jesus. In fact, one of the titles of the Pope is "servant of the servants of God." But, we might wonder, how would this impact those of us in the laity? Let us consider three principles.
One is that when we are in positions of leadership in our lives, we too need to be good shepherds to those we lead, focusing on their well-being, rather than our own desires. We need to give of ourselves and be willing to sacrifice of ourselves as servant leaders. The second principle is that we need to accept the servant leadership of those legitimately appoint to lead us, whether in the Church or in society at large. Third, we must always acknowledge that we need Christ to be our Good Shepherd. We cannot be self-sufficient spiritually. We cannot make it on our own spiritually. We need the grace of Christ to be in us and work through us. He will then lead us to his eternal realm of infinite peace.
||
The readings for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B are:
Jer 23:1-6
Ps 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6
Eph 2:13-18
Mk 6:30-34
The full text can be found at the USCCB website.
Photo Credit: Apse of the Basilica of Saints Cosmas and Damian in Rome (c) 2013 by Zoltan Abraham.