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Jesus
said, "What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to
the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.'
He said in reply, 'I will not,' but afterwards he changed his
mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order.
He said in reply, 'Yes, sir,' but did not go. Which of the two
did his father's will?" They answered, "The first." Jesus
said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are
entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in
the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors
and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not
later change your minds and believe him."
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There
were many heroes on September 11, 2001, the day of the attack on the
World Trade Center in New York City. Many of them gave their
lives to search for people who could possibly have survived. The
fact that there were only a few who did survive was not in the mind of
the heroes, only that a job had to be done--rescue as many as they
could. Two of those rescued were Sgt. John McLouglin and Police
Officer Will Jimeno. One of their rescuers was Staff Sgt. Dave
Karnes. The movie "World Trade Center" presents Karnes as a
person who made his way to Ground Zero because he saw a job that needed
to be done, and he knew that he had to do it. Yes, there were
others, and maybe they had a job to do also. But what was
important to him was what he had to do. And he decided to do something about it.
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What
is your job right now? And how do you do it? Those
questions are part of leadership training. They are part of that
training because everyone of us, no matter how young or old,
intelligent or not, educated or not, all have a job. It may be as
simple as growing up in today's world or going to school, or as
complicated as being
the elected president of a country. True leaders will look on the job
they have, and
decide that it should be done as best as it can be.
Jesus told the leaders of religion in Israel that they had a job to do, and pointed out to them that even though they had said that they would do it, they were not. Proof of that came in the way they had responded to John the Baptist's preaching. Those who realized that they had the job of leadership to do were the tax collectors and prostitutes who actually turned their lives around, changed their minds, and began to believe in John. They finally understood what their job was, and brought themselves to do something about it. Just as every leader in the world, the follower of Jesus Christ has a job to do. No matter what they have chosen as a profession or what they are preparing for in the future, the follower of Jesus will do his or her job in the way a Christian would do it. They will recognize that the virtues Jesus talked about are virtues that must be applied to their situation at that time, no matter what the circumstances may be. Staff Sgt. David Karnes realized as a Christian leader that he could rescue some people during a tragedy, and he did. Every Christian leader will realize that they should bring what Jesus taught to their lives and their efforts no matter what they are doing. |
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THOUGHT
What are the most important Christian
virtues that every Christian leader must learn?
PRAYER Good and gracious
God, we all have jobs to do in this world that you have created.
Help us understand that we must learn the virtues your Son taught
us, and want to put them into effect in the lives that we are leading.
Be with us, we pray.
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©2007 Capuchin
Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |
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