SIRACH 27:4-7, 1COR.15:54-58, LUKE 6:39-45
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Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
THE DANGER OF BLIND LEADERS
Jesus presents us with a series of “sayings” about Leaders in the gospel reading of today. We shall look at them thematically.
1. Jesus says “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will not both fall into a pit?” (Lk.6:39). This is popularly called the parable of the fall of the blind. It teaches us that leaders should not be blind. “Follow who know road o, e get why” If the blind leads the blind they will both fall into a pit. Therefore, leaders must see well if they do not want to risk harming those entrusted to their care. Blindness could be mental, spiritual or physical. The state of many nations of the world today is not far from the aforementioned blindness. The hike in fuel price, insecurity, armed robbery, Cyber crime and Industrial action are concomitant effects of spiritual and physical blindness. Therefore every leader should be enlightened. A good leader must be a good reader, current and correct. Therefore, leaders must be like a burning lamp diffusing light, dispelling the darkness of ignorance, violence and war.
2. Jesus says that “a fully trained disciple will be like his teacher.” Traininghas specific goals of improving one’s capability, capacity, productivity and performance. Without training efficiency will be poor. As Christians if we must reign with him in life eternal we must train ourselves for it. No training; no reigning! Many people want to bear tittles; Engr, Prophet, Dr, Prof, some want to be famous and known as the best Cake and Decoration Expert; Makeup Artist; but are not ready to undergo scrupulous training. With the dawn of “Yahoo Money” you hardly get trainees in any center of learning. And so the result today shows that many people don’t want to be trained; but desire its result. Beloved, Great men of old with outstanding performances prepared themselves through outstanding training programmes.
Again, the period of training is a period of mistakes and corrections. The disciples in mark gospel made terrible mistakes. But with such men Jesus set out to change the world. Therefore, your mistake in training is not an end; but a step in knowledge. These mistakes persisted among the disciples until they received the Holy Spirit. Thereafter they became Apostles and Masters. At baptism we become Christians; but at the Sacrament of Confirmation we become fully trained disciples; we become strong soldiers of Jesus Christ. Therefore, if we must be like our teacher we must insist on training, learning, and listening to the Holy Spirit.
3. Jesus says “why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own.” It is easy to find faults in others and overlook our own faults. There are people who see fault nearly in everything but do not realize their failures; they are perfect in their own sense and judgment. In fact, for them it is a fault when there is no fault in a thing. Christians don’t find fault, they see challenges and address them. Oftentimes we condemn people while we are even worse off. We have the example of a Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14 who was rather condemning an innocent man instead of asking for mercies for his own sins. He praised himself before God as a righteous man and regarded his neighbour as an unworthy fellow. All of us must examine our consciences; we must bring to mind our sins and accept our own faults – “I confess to almighty God…”; we must accept our faults about the present failures in our world and make amends. Until our leaders accept their faults they won’t find remedy. If Christians accept their faults then they can say like St. Paul in the second reading; “O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?”
4. Jesus says “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit.” In other words a leader is known by his or her decisions. This means that fruitfulness is essential and it is a function of our texture and quality. If our fruits are bad then out training is in vain. These fruits reflect our true personality. “An evil man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke6:45). The test of a fully trained disciple is in the fruits he bears. Similarly, the first reading says that “the fruit discloses the cultivation of a tree….” A fully trained disciple must bear the fruit of patience, love, kindness, and the likes. Therefore, let us bear good fruits and bear witness to Christ.
LET US PRAY: Grant us, O Lord, we pray, that the course of our world may be directed by your peaceful rule and that your Church may rejoice, untroubled in her devotion. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
Fr Galadima Bitrus (OSA)
THE POWER OF WORDS AND WORKS
Words are the expression of a man’s quality of thought and works are the expression of his will-power. Both, not either, make up the complete man. Hence, the integral man is s/he who has arrived at the integration of his words and his works. Today’s readings invite us to meditate on the dynamics of these two powerful means of human expression, thus, the need for responsible speaking and responsible behaviour.
The 1st Reading (Sirach 27:4-7) is part of a collection of brief reflections on discernment, running through Sirach 26:28-27:15. Central to these reflections is the metaphor of the tree and its fruits and the relationship between thoughts or the treasure of the heart and words or what the mouth speaks. Thus, this section of Sirach underscores the fact that men are to be evaluated according to their actions (their relationship with others and with things) and according to their words.
In the passage of today’s first reading, the sacred sage teaches that a man’s filth remains in his thought just as refuse remain when a sieve is shaken (27:4) but these thoughts which are cultivated in the mind are disclosed in speech, just like the fruit discloses the cultivation of a tree (27:6). Therefore, he concludes that the test of men is in their speech which is a disclosure of their thought (27:7). In other words, words matter; speech is also action that reveals the inner man; speech is also a fruit by which the thought of men is revealed. Jesus expresses similar thought in the Gospel reading.
The 2nd Reading (1 Cor 15:54-58) is an exclamation of the certainty of triumph over death which God gives us in Christ Jesus (15:57), expressed in rhetorical questions, to encourage Christians to remain strong and unshakable in good work, “the work of the Lord”, knowing that “your labour is not in vain” (15:58).
For Paul, it is not that the Christian will not die but that our mortality will eventually give way to our immortality, death will eventually give way to the resurrection (15:54a). Hence, it will be a fulfillment of the prophetic affirmation: “death has been swallowed up in victory”; 15:54b). As we read also in Isaiah 25:8, “He – the Lord – will destroy death forever. My Lord God will wipe the tears away from all faces and will put an end to the reproach of his people.”
Paul follows up this affirmation with rhetorical questions that expose still the impotence of death and make a caricature of its temporal and temporary victory and pain: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting” (15:55). A similar thought and language is found in Hosea 13:14: “From Sheol itself I will save them; from death itself I will redeem them. O death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your pestilence?” Paul answers these questions by attaching the sting of death to sin and its power to the law, thus demonstrating even more clearly the defeat of death because both sin and the law, the very sources of the sting and power of death, are overcome by the power of grace in Christ Jesus (15:56).
In the Gospel Reading (Lk 6:39-45), Christ proposes to his disciples the model of a teacher, having taught them, as we read last Sunday (Lk 6:27-38), not to love in a reactionary or reciprocal way, but to be inventors and therefore teachers of a new culture of love as the antidote to the prevailing culture of hate, revenge and violence.
The disciple of Christ as teacher is expected to be one who works on his imperfections in order to be in a better position to help others overcome theirs, not one who ignores his imperfections and gets fixated, instead, on the imperfections of others, which may even be less severe that his own. To drive home this lesson, Jesus tells a parable that employs three metaphors.
First, the metaphor of the blind person guiding a blind person (6:39-42), thus demonstrating how fatal it is for a disciple of Christ, and by extension, any teacher, preacher or leader, not to work to overcome first his own imperfections so as to be a more reliable and more credible guide for others. Both such a leader and the people s/he is leading will be undertaking a dangerous adventure, creating at best the odd possibility of having disciples that may be better than the teacher, instead of having the teacher as a model that the disciples look up to and aspire to be like.
The second metaphor is that of the good tree and its fruits versus the bad tree and its fruits (6:43-44). This demonstrates almost a necessary connection between the quality of the teacher or leader and the disciples or the followership they produce. In other words, if you want to know the quality of a teacher, look at the impact s/he has on their students; if you want to know the quality of a leader, look at the impact s/he has on the people they lead.
It is of great importance, therefore, to care about the quality of our teachers, preachers and leaders because it impacts on the quality of the rest of society. Indeed, no good tree bears bad fruit and no bad tree bears good fruit.
The third metaphor is that of the correlation between the treasure or abundance of the heart and what the mouth speaks (6:45), showing that what we say matters because it can only come from what our heart is able to conceive. Words matter. The Bible attributes so much importance to words that the act of creation, the very beginning of reality is born of words: God said, “let there be” (“yehî”)… “and there was” (“wayhî”) (Gen 1). Jesus is in fact characterized as “the Word which became flesh” (Gk, “Ho Lógos sàrx egéneto”) (Jn 1:14).
The word is important, especially the word that comes from the mouth of a teacher, preacher or leader, and certainly, the word that comes from the mouth of a disciple or follower of Christ. It can make or mar, it can create or destroy, it can inspire or cause to expire. Words have influence! Words have consequences! Words are performative! Speech is Act!
Whenever you speak, therefore, know that you are either planting or uprooting, you are either building or destroying, you are either healing or wounding, you are either comforting or hurting, you are either encouraging or discouraging, you are either calming or inflaming, you are either making better or making worse! Therefore, use words responsibly!
As the world goes mad again and death and destruction rage in Ukrain, let our words become words of prayer for the innocent people besieged by violence, destruction and death, that the Lord will make haste to save his people, in accordance to his word: “From Sheol itself, I will save them; from death itself, I will redeem them (Hosea 13:14). Amen!
Fr. Paul K. Oredipe
EVERY MAN REPRODUCES WHAT IS IN HIS HEART
Words are Tested by One’s Deeds
Song:
Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight O Lord
What we say and what we do testify to who we are. Our words and our actions reveal our thoughts, values, disposition, and preferences. This is the central theme of today’s liturgy. The Word of God invites us to pause and reflect on our own spoken words and what they tell us about the state of our heart, mind and souls. Given that many of our lives lack the quality we ourselves would wish to see, this self-examination may be painful.
While the first reading invites us to be careful and cautious about the words that come out of our mouth, the Gospel also emphasis this same theme, that is, just like every tree reproduces after its nature or kind, a person’s words flow from what fills his or her heart. A man’s words expose his heart, the kind of man he is. The reading also urges us to examine ourselves first and, in speaking about others, to exercise the same magnanimity and compassion we expect for ourselves.
We are told today that just as a tree is known by its fruit, so a man is known by his word and his words. For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Also, a person’s speech is a reflection of the kind of person he is. A man’s words expose his true nature, what he is really like beneath the surface. A man’s words expose what he is down deep within his heart: his motives, desires, ambitions, or the lack of initiative. A man’s words expose his true character, good or bad, kind or cruel. A man’s words expose his mind, what he thinks, pure or impure thoughts, dirty or clean thoughts.
A Christian, for instance, can be likened to a good tree that should produce good fruit. It follows that if one is a Christian, his speech should also show it. The speech of a Christian should be such as will give glory to God and edify one’s neighbour. Thus, someone who is really a Christian will be truthful, honest and modest in his speech. He will not be given to telling lies or saying one thing while he means another.
Jesus is also telling us today that the blind cannot lead the blind. This is to tell us of the awesome responsibility upon leaders: the preachers, teachers, parents, bosses, and anyone who has influence or responsibility for anyone else. Therefore, leadership is a responsibility of every Christian, because we are called to lead by example. Christ is telling us today that we should not be blind guides. We must see well if we do not want to risk harming the persons entrusted to our care.
Jesus warns against being blind because blindness leads to two tragic results. Both the leader and the follower walk in darkness. If a person is blind by hypocrisy, for instance, that person will not be able to correct and to arouse spiritual fidelity in the people who should be formed and encouraged. Thus, Christ attracts today the attention of every one who is entrusted with the care of others. They are all guides. The guides have the task of moulding and forming the young and growing minds entrusted to them. A guide must be like a burning lamp diffusing light, dispelling the darkness of ignorance and vice. One can be a guide more by one’s example than by one’s words.
Parents, for instance, must be especially careful of their duties as guides by becoming role models for their children by leading exemplary lives. As parents, they should know their children well, they should know about their problems, they should protect and defend their children against modern predators and moral poison of this age, they should be interested in what they read, the type of the film they watch, the company they keep, and what they wear. Some are naked in the streets in the name of the latest fashion, and the parents won’t see anything wrong in that. Some decorate their rooms with ponographies, and some are addicted to drug. In fact, as guides, the parents have a lot to do over their children today. They must shield their children against all these negativities. Parents must be in touch with their children even in schools.
In the same vein, the duty of a guide belongs to all Christians because every Christian should be model to the people around him/her. He/she has the obligation to be a good guide in school, in place of work and everywhere. Some guides, unfortunately feast on their followers they ought to guide. For instance, some lecturers, teachers, bosses and directors feed on their female employees. Let us always reflect the image of Jesus the Good Shepherd.
Lastly, Jesus is also telling us today not to be blind to necessary virtues that are lacking in us. It is then we can spot this lack in our brothers and have the audacity to offer to lead him on the right road. Sometimes it is easy to notice other people’s defects and sins and, not to see at all our own defects and sins. Sometimes, we are all guilty of rash judgement and unjustified criticism. Jesus is telling us today to turn this criticism to ourselves rather, and judge ourselves honestly and sincerely and in a short while we may, with God’s grace helping us, notice a change in our Christian conduct. And by so doing, we shall find ourselves becoming more Christians and therefore more charitable towards our neighbors and less critical of their faults.
In three days we shall see the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Lent is a season of grace, a time for discernment and spiritual growth, for reflection and amendment of life. We might immediately think of the things we do or try not to do during Lent, but today gives us the best preparation for Lent – Jesus’ invitation to be in touch with our hearts. And the wonderful thing about the human heart is that it can change. To make the best use of this time we need to be aware of our faults and ready to work hard, with God’s grace to overcome them.
In the next few weeks of Lent, I recommend that we seek to cleanse our hearts by the careful use of the gift of speech, which God gave us so that we could sing His praises.
May the Lord make us good guides after His own heart by living our lives worthy of our Christian calling. Amen.
