Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Published: February 8, 2015

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor preached the following homily during the confirmation Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Glenwood on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015.

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Bishop Taylor

To our way of thinking, the word “slave” and the word “leader” are absolute opposites.

In North Korea, the Kim family has enslaved an entire nation for three generations, and now Kim Jong Un is all powerful and his people remain powerless victims. Here in the United States we celebrate Black History Month every February and we recall how centuries of slavery and oppression continue to weigh on subsequent generations today.

They didn’t come to this parish to whip you into shape, they came to set you free, empowering you and helping you ...

Did any of you see the recent movie “Selma”? I recommend it; it’ll give you an idea of the brutality that those working to end racial segregation had to endure. And, of course, there are other forms of slavery that are more personal: compulsions that bind us, alcoholism and drug abuse, abusive relationships, sins committed in the past that continue to weigh heavily on us — little dictators inside us that continue to enslave us.

Slavery is an experience of powerlessness and oppression. Leadership is the exercise of power and freedom. Slavery is darkness, leadership is light.

Our readings today speak of slavery, but of a kind that is very different from the oppressive form of slavery that has so wounded our nation’s soul. Indeed, today’s second reading speaks about kind of freely embraced slavery that we would call servant leadership: St. Paul has made himself a slave of all so as to win over as many people as possible. And our Gospel portrays Jesus as one who serves: He heals the sick, expels demons and proclaims God’s Good News which both binds and frees. He leads all right, but he does so as a servant, and this greatly limits his freedom. People continually press in on him with their needs, expecting him to help them and to serve them.

The Kim family leads by enslaving those they claim to lead. Jesus does just the opposite. He leads by empowering others, by setting others free. After freeing Simon’s mother-in-law from the illness that kept her bound, Jesus empowers her to go and serve others.

Pope Francis has designated 2015 as the Year of Consecrated Life, and so today I pray — as I always do — that the Lord will call some of you to the priesthood and/or religious life. And in so doing, I recall that we priests and sisters are called to be servant leaders in our Church and in our community. And in this role of servant-leader, your pastor Father Josh Stengel excels. So also do the Missionary Catechists of the Poor who serve you so generously.

They do not lead by dominating and calling the shots, they are soft spoken and gentle! They didn’t come to this parish to whip you into shape, they came to set you free, empowering you and helping you orchestrate the gifts and leadership that you have to offer.

This doesn’t mean that we priests and sisters are supposed to be doormats and affirm everything — after all, Jesus did have to expel a few demons. But it does mean that we are called to lead by serving rather than by dominating.

But you know, priests and sisters are not the only ones called to exercise servant leadership in the life of the Church. Every single one of you, by virtue of your baptism, is called to serve and — on some level — to lead. We see this in the case of every single disciple of Christ referred to in the New Testament. Paul served and led many people in his role as missionary and founder of Churches. Peter’s mother-in-law had a much more modest role, but she too was a servant of others.

And so today, I challenge each of you to reflect on the talents and gifts you have to offer this community and to place yourself generously at the service of all.