Homily for 21 July 2024 by Fr. Oscarito Antonio Boongaling
What does it mean to be a leader? It is a challenge to answer such question – because we can come up with different criteria to qualify persons to take up a leadership role. There are multiple books, seminars and videos that teach about leadership – yet we are still searching for good candidates. In the Ignatian tradition, leadership starts from a proper disposition. Allow me to share the three C’s that my Jesuit professor taught me in the seminary.
- Great leaders learn where to find their true center and teach others to do the same. We heard in the Gospel the disciples have returned from their missionary journey. And they desired to report what transpired in their experiences. Jesus made them ride a boat and intended to bring them to a place of rest. This is what we see in the Gospels Jesus himself did after a significant event in his life. Matthew 14:23: “After (feeding the multitude and) dismissing them, he went on the mountain to pray. I believe this is Jesus’ idea of resting. Why? When we rest, we pause from what distracts and preoccupies us, we take deep breaths, we zoom out so we can see the bigger picture. It is tempting for the disciples to report what they have achieved. Jesus was pointing to his disciples how to ground themselves, their life and their work in God (to find their center not in themselves but in God) who is the real source of their inspiration, nourishment and strength. I also believe that the greener pasture where a good shepherd leads his sheep is towards God.
- Great leaders face dark scenarios with courage and empower others to do the same. In the Gospel, we find this disposition in Jesus through the context of the preceding Gospel text. King Herod Antiphas heard about the preaching and miracles of Jesus. He desired to meet the man because he had John the Baptist beheaded. Jesus was associated with John – they are cousins and are involved in the same line of service. Jesus is facing the same potential danger and threat to his life and ministry. Yet he goes forward, continuously doing the work that the Father has entrusted to him. How many times had our Lord told his disciples including John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, also believe in me.”? The good leader knows where to go and shows others the way. He teaches others that the power that their trust in God’s presence and help will help them overcome any difficulty. In the psalm it says: “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
- Great leaders possess great compassion as they possess eyes and hearts that are sensitive to the deep needs of others. Jesus forgoes his initial plan of rest for his followers – because his heart goes to the crowd – for he saw them as a headless people – sheep without a shepherd – people who are seeking for rest from sin, sickness, rejection and oppression. Jesus goes beyond the limits and boundaries imposed by the law and religious restrictions and touches the lives of others like the leper, the man born blind, the Samaritan woman by the well, the widow’s son in Naim, Zacchaeus because he was touched by them and their dire situations. Where else did this compassion in Jesus come from but the Father who by his very nature is love? He receives this gift whenever Jesus communes with his Father in prayer. Pope Francis in his General Audience (May 5, 2021) shared that contemplative prayer is an act of the heart when we gaze at our Lord and feel his loving gaze on us, and our hearts are purified. This in turn enables us to see others in the light of that truth and compassion which Jesus brings to all. Psalm 23 affirms this when it ends with the verse: my cup overflows as God nourishes and anoints me, goodness and love will follow me throughout my days.
Dear sisters and brothers, in Jesus we find a great model on how to be a good shepherd.