THE IMAGE OF THE MASTER

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mt 23:1-12

PR or Public Relation is very important. Equally important is PI or Public Image. Politicians and celebrities even spend a lot of money trying to build a very good PI and PR. Quite often, however, the PR and PI do not reflect the RR or Real Relations and TI or True Image of the individual.

The Lord is not concerned with PR or PI. He values the RR and TI of every person instead. The Gospel today shows us that very clearly. He knows what hides behind the masks of many, not all however, scribes and Pharisees. Many scribes and Pharisees are guilty of hypocrisy. They appear to be righteous but they are actually self-righteous. They project themselves to be good religious leaders but they do not lead by example. Thus, Jesus tells the people and His disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practice what they preach.”

The Gospel today is an obligatory reading for both leaders and followers. Leaders should always lead by the shining example of their lives while followers should never encourage their leaders to create false images of themselves. Leading by example means that leaders should be the first and best models of what they preach. Discouraging leaders to create false images of themselves means that followers should never adulate leaders who do not practice what they preach. It always takes two to tango. If we are the followers, we deserve the leaders we get. If we are the leaders, we create the followers we have. Both leaders and followers are often guilty of promoting deceit in any affairs.

The Word of God today convicts us all. Not even one of us is spared from its double-edged sword. Leaders or followers, we can only bow our heads and strike our breast saying, “Mea culpa. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.”

But the Word of God does not only convict us. It is also our hope and salvation. Thus, it teaches us that if we want to be great we must be the servant of all.

A leader leads best when he serves best. There is no other option for a Christian leader than servant-leadership. This is the example given to us by Jesus who came not to be served but to serve. Jesus leads us not by making us His servants but by serving us.

A follower follows best when he serves. There is no other way to follow but the path of an authentic servant-leader. That is the reason why we are followers of Jesus Christ, not of anybody else. And we follow our human leaders only as far as they carry in themselves the very image of Jesus the Servant.

Let us carry in us the image of Jesus the Servant. Let us be conformed to His image. Let Jesus be our image builder. Let our lives reflect His life always. He alone is our Master. And the ultimate joy of any disciple is to become like the Master.