Posted by The WORD in other words (2018) by Fr Dennis Manzana, SVD – Taiwan
Wednesday 2nd Week of Lent
“The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20,28) ”
Jesus our Lord and Master leads by serving. How about us? As teachers, parish priests, parents, managers or even students leading a school club – we all have some leadership role. The question is not how big a group we lead but how we lead.
Hermann Hesse in his book Journey to the East wrote about a group of pilgrims in search of the ultimate truth. Traveling with the group was Leo, a joyful simple servant loved by all and always ready to give his assistance to all. Later on, the book revealed that Leo was actually the leader of the league. From this story, Robert Greenleaf in 1977 drew inspiration in developing the concept of “servant leadership.”
Servant leadership was very much visible in Jesus’ ways. Faced with his two disciples who manifested ambition towards authority and power, Jesus, the great Leader and Teacher, took this opportunity to instruct because the other disciples’ indignation showed that they, too sought the same power. Actually it is also very much a lesson for us the new disciples. As followers of Jesus we are to be servants first.
The beloved Mother Teresa of Calcutta did not seek possession of power or authority but rather simply served with much love. Following the example of Jesus her beloved Master, she gave herself completely to serving the poorest of the poor. In doing so, she was looked up to as leader and many are inspired to do likewise. “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
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