Among the many
things Pope Francis did on his first day as pope was to drop by the place he
was staying at previously to collect his belongings and pay his bill
personally.
This is one of the many little ways in which he has already shown us what true leadership is all about, that leaders are people who must walk humbly by living, breathing and walking both their inner and external talk. Just as Christ did. And as followers of Christ, each of us would do well to follow in His footsteps.
The positions of power that are entrusted to us are not meant for self glorification, or merely a validation of one's abilities and capabilities, but are meant for us to step up to the plate, and exercise honour and responsibility in whatever we do.
Jesus was the ultimate servant king, a king who loved and cared for his people to the point of laying down his life. In baptism, we are each given that same mission of love, and as Monsignor Vaz shared last Thursday evening, us ordinary folk are not spared from this kingly office.
There are two aspects of kingship that belong uniquely to us, the laity: family life and temporal order.
Within our families, we should edify and help each other grow in holiness by living out Christian principles. Parents, especially, demonstrate family governance (in cooperation with the Holy Spirit) by raising their children to be loving and giving men and women, walking in Christ's footsteps.
As for the rest of the time, we should engage in temporal affairs, directing them according to God's will. This means using our talents and working towards the right governance and ordering of society according to Gospel principles and the Social Teaching of the Church.
We need to embody everything that is good and beautiful about Christian virtue and put it into action in our daily living.
We need to fight the culture of death, so prevalent in the world today, by being the voice of the unborn, sick, elderly, displaced, poor, marginalized and the dying.
It is a gargantuan task, but as Father Arro said in his homily today, difficult does not mean impossible, especially if we walk with the Lord by our side.
In his first homily, Pope Francis echoed the primacy of Christ as we take on the role of co-workers and co-builders of the Kingdom:
"We can journey as much as we want, we can build many things, but if we do not confess Jesus Christ, the thing does not work. We will become a welfare NGO but not the Church, the Bride of Christ. When we do not journey, we stop. When we do not build upon the stones, what happens? Everything collapses, loses its consistency, like the sandcastles that children build on the beach. When we do not confess Jesus Christ, I am reminded of the words of Léon Bloy: “Whoever does not pray to the Lord, prays to the devil.” When we do not confess Jesus Christ, we confess the worldliness of the devil, the worldliness of the demon.
"When we journey without the cross, when we build without the cross and when we confess a Christ without the cross, we are not disciples of the Lord: we are worldly, we are bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord.
I would like for us all, after these days of grace, to have courage, precisely the courage, to walk in the Lord’s presence, with the cross of the Lord; to build the Church upon the blood of the Lord, which was poured out on the cross; and to confess the only glory there is: Christ crucified. And in this way the Church will go forward."
To add one last thought to the words of Pope Francis which comes from Father Arro's talk on the Stations of the Cross this afternoon, rather than just focus on Christ's suffering in His Passion, we should reflect more on the love He showed us, right to the very end.
The immensity of that love is the glory of God perfected in our world of sin and imperfection. As disciples of the Servant King, we can but strive for that perfection.
This is one of the many little ways in which he has already shown us what true leadership is all about, that leaders are people who must walk humbly by living, breathing and walking both their inner and external talk. Just as Christ did. And as followers of Christ, each of us would do well to follow in His footsteps.
The positions of power that are entrusted to us are not meant for self glorification, or merely a validation of one's abilities and capabilities, but are meant for us to step up to the plate, and exercise honour and responsibility in whatever we do.
Jesus was the ultimate servant king, a king who loved and cared for his people to the point of laying down his life. In baptism, we are each given that same mission of love, and as Monsignor Vaz shared last Thursday evening, us ordinary folk are not spared from this kingly office.
There are two aspects of kingship that belong uniquely to us, the laity: family life and temporal order.
Within our families, we should edify and help each other grow in holiness by living out Christian principles. Parents, especially, demonstrate family governance (in cooperation with the Holy Spirit) by raising their children to be loving and giving men and women, walking in Christ's footsteps.
As for the rest of the time, we should engage in temporal affairs, directing them according to God's will. This means using our talents and working towards the right governance and ordering of society according to Gospel principles and the Social Teaching of the Church.
We need to embody everything that is good and beautiful about Christian virtue and put it into action in our daily living.
We need to fight the culture of death, so prevalent in the world today, by being the voice of the unborn, sick, elderly, displaced, poor, marginalized and the dying.
It is a gargantuan task, but as Father Arro said in his homily today, difficult does not mean impossible, especially if we walk with the Lord by our side.
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