HOMILY OF TUESDAY OF THE 7TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Ecclesiasticus 2:1-11, Mark 9:30-37
THEME: THE SIMPLICITY OF A LEADER
QUOTE: “You cannot be a good follower, if you’re not a good leader.”
The birth of Jesus explains how God became man in order to save man. The mighty God chose to come down from heaven to live among us.
Anyone who wants to become relevant or impactful positively in the society ought to climb down the social ladder. Though it takes humility to come down to other people’s level, no leader can make a lasting impression unless he mingles with the least persons in his group or society because the true life situation of people is found in the street.
Our society is filled with people who cannot settle for Jesus’ kind of leadership. For those type of leaders, If you are not older than them or have higher qualification, you cannot be in their good book. It is either you are a particular gender of their choice or come from a certain ethnic extraction before you can qualify as their equals. And by the time they give you recognition with an uninterested wave of the hand, you still need to battle with their exalted ideas which oftentimes hinder them from listening to other people’s contributions. Whoever belongs to this group may find it difficult to stoop low as a leader.
To such kind of personalities, the Lord said, “Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name, welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
A leader should be concerned about everybody irrespective of his or her social status. The little ones Jesus is talking about can be likened to the dependent ones who we often think have nothing to contribute. We are meant to serve and help them settle in and stand on their feet. At the moment, we tend to seek only those who we believe are the benefactors or sponsors, we are simply telling the poor ones that they are not relevant. Should we wait till they come up the ladder and remind us how we have neglected them, or should we rather lift them up and give them a sense of belonging? The choice is ours.
We can be simple if we want to. It takes nothing from who we are. Every office is a responsibility. Every responsibility is a call to serve. It takes humility to serve.
May the Lord clothe us with the garment of simplicity that we may make concrete impact wherever we are. Amen.
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