AUTHORITY, COMMANDMENT, OR SERVICE?
October 17, 2021
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time - B.
A Yugoslavian proverb says: “If you wish to know what a man
is, place him in authority.” And a Chinese proverb adds: “The emperor is the
father of his people, not a master to be served by slaves.”
A basic definition, and from the understanding of the common
of mortal, authority is the power or right to control, judge, or prohibit the
actions of others. Are called authority, a person or group of people having
this power, such as a government, police force, social leaders, etc. The word
authority also refers to a position that commands such a power or right. In the
fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power
that a person or a group of persons possess and practice over other people.
When we hear of the word authority, the first thing that
crosses our minds is supremacy or dominion over others. It is about how to
decide what others should do or should not do. He who has the authority or he
who is holding a position that confers power has all the rights over those
under his authority. The Word of God, however, invites us for another
understanding and perception of authority: it is a power to serve and not to be
served, a power to lead and not to subdue.
Once again, on this Sunday, the liturgy insists on what must
be the real meaning of authority for a disciple of Christ. We read that power
and position of authority are not to command but to serve with meekness,
humility, self-sacrifice for those under our dominion.
In the first reading, the Prophet Isaiah gives the image of
the greatest leader. Speaking of the Servant of the Lord, Isaiah describes
authority as service and self-sacrifice. That passes through the acceptance to
undergo all kinds of suffering in order to ransom and save. The servant of God
offers his life in atonement. "By his sufferings, he justifies many,
taking their faults on himself." The real authority is that, to serve and
suffer for others.
In the Gospel, the Lord Jesus gives the same definition of
authority. To James and John seeking to sit at his right and his left, Jesus
calls to see authority not as a way to subdue and dominate, but as a means of
service. And so, he reveals one great side of his mission: "For the Son of
Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and give his life as a
ransom for many." The Lord also goes further to warn his followers saying:
“You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it
over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall
not be so among you.” What the Lord means here, is that, as his followers, they
should get the true and only right meaning of leadership. So he says, “Rather,
whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be
first among you will be the slave of all.”
The greatest authority that can even have a moral effect on
people is won in humble service. When you are in a position of authority and
power, people do not respect you because you dominate and command, but mostly
because you serve as a leader. The most loved presidents or community leaders
are not the autocratic ones who are there to repress and punish but the
servants and the one who is close to his subjects. Does anyone of us love
dictators and authoritarian powers?
The real authority, says the letter to the Hebrews, is
expressed in the capacity to feel the weakness of your subjects and share in
their pains. In that, Jesus, the Son of God, is the incarnation of this
leadership. In him, “we have a great high priest who has passed through the
heavens,” one who can sympathize with our weaknesses. The leaders who do not
feel the pains and sufferings of their people, oftentimes impose more inhuman
pains on them. When those in position and possession of authority are
disconnected from the reality of their people, these latter ones suffer the
more of their leadership.
The current sanitary crisis of the COVID-19 that has merged
into a problematic moral, social, and economic crisis and pandemic teaches us a
lot about some people's notion of leadership. The way some countries and
governments are reacting to the situation shows if they are servant-leaders or
leaders to be served. Some measures taken in some places are more oppressive
and pejorative, with greater negative impacts on the people than the virus and
its epidemic could be. Poor people with no assurance and no financial stability
are paying the heaviest wages, while some government officials have seen in
this pandemic an income-generating business. Thousands of people have become
jobless and so many new forms of poverty have emerged. Besides, some
politicians and leaders are heartlessly glorifying themselves of their
possessions, fruits of their position, and corruption.
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