Sunday, June 15, 2008 Lagura: The King's chosen men By Fr. Flor Lagura, SVD in the service of the word
TOO much influence from the corporate world with its high-powered search for managers, especially CEOs, in the search the Church has for priests and bishops has made Fr. F. McCarthy, SDB seriously reflect. He also imagines that if Jesus would have submitted the list of his chosen followers to a consultancy, the Lord would have received the following analytic and business-like answer.
Dear Sir,
We acknowledge receipt of the resumes of your candidates. After profiling and subjecting them to a battery of tests to determine their psycho-social aptitudes, our team of experts has come up with the following evaluation:
- Peter, son of Jonah, is sadly too sanguine. His emotional ups and downs do not bode well for the leadership role you would like him to take.
- Andrew is a mere follower with no leadership qualities to show
- James and John: these two brothers are too hot-tempered and ambitious
- Thomas is too much of a doubter, the result of his missing sessions with the rest
- Matthew is good in accounting, but his background as a dubious and hated tax-collector would be a negative factor for the rest of the team
- James the Younger and Thaddeus cannot be relied on completely because of their radical leanings
However, there is one who shows great promise, for he demonstrates much initiative and resourcefulness. Moreover, he has shown a keen business sense to which should be added his close connections with people in high places. We highly recommend this candidate to be your treasurer, even your next in command on account of his ambition, motivation and unique sense of destiny. Hence, we find Judas Iscariot the only candidate worth keeping.
Sincerely yours,
Mid-East Management Consultancy Group
When our Lord chose the twelve close disciples, he was well aware of their limitations, their personal dreams, their fears and their overall limited backgrounds. Yet he valued them, he loved all of them, including Judas who later betrayed him.
In his hands, he was willing to mold them and later entrust to them the all-important task of building his kingdom. Their weaknesses and tunnel-vision would give way and eventually show the Lord chose them—not they choosing Him and that establishing the kingdom of heaven on earth is God’s work, not theirs.
Our being chosen to help establish God’s reign on earth, by virtue of our call through baptism, is humbling. But in the light of God’s plan, such an invitation can truly be uplifting.
