Leadership and Lifestyle

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today alert us to the challenge of carefully choosing the lifestyle and leaders that guide us according to the model of love, humility, and compassion set by Jesus.

Lifestyle of Leadership

The Reading from the First Letter of Timothy urges Gratitude for God’s Mercy

* [1:12–17] Present gratitude for the Christian apostleship leads Paul to recall an earlier time when he had been a fierce persecutor of the Christian communities (cf. Acts 26:9–11) until his conversion by intervention of divine mercy through the appearance of Jesus. This and his subsequent apostolic experience testify to the saving purpose of Jesus’ incarnation. The fact of his former ignorance of the truth has not kept the apostle from regarding himself as having been the worst of sinners (1 Tm 1:15). Yet he was chosen to be an apostle, that God might manifest his firm will to save sinful humanity through Jesus Christ (1 Tm 1:16). The recounting of so great a mystery leads to a spontaneous outpouring of adoration (1 Tm 1:17). (1 Timothy, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.) (1 Timothy, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 16 rejects the futile worship of false gods.

* [Psalm 16] In the first section, the psalmist rejects the futile worship of false gods (Ps 16:2–5), preferring Israel’s God (Ps 16:1), the giver of the land (Ps 16:6). The second section reflects on the wise and life-giving presence of God (Ps 16:7–11). (Psalms, PSALM 16 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Luke continues the Sermon on the Plain. 

Luke’s sermon may be outlined as follows: an introduction consisting of blessings and woes (Lk 6:20–26); the love of one’s enemies (Lk 6:27–36); the demands of loving one’s neighbor (Lk 6:37–42); good deeds as proof of one’s goodness (Lk 6:43–45); a parable illustrating the result of listening to and acting on the words of Jesus (Lk 6:46–49). At the core of the sermon is Jesus’ teaching on the love of one’s enemies (Lk 6:27–36) that has as its source of motivation God’s graciousness and compassion for all humanity (Lk 6:35–36) and Jesus’ teaching on the love of one’s neighbor (Lk 6:37–42) that is characterized by forgiveness and generosity. (Luke, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB, n.d.)

Kathy Kemler comments that, in the gospel, Jesus tells a parable to remind us of another truth. Jesus tells us that when we are ready to criticize another, take a step back and look within ourselves.

Often the reason we criticize another is because the same flaw, habit, tendency lies within us. We are repulsed when we see the flaw in action, because it is like looking in the mirror.  Jesus tells us to look inside because he is encouraging us to be better, in essence to open our eyes to the truth about ourselves so that we can move forward in a better way, for God’s greater glory.  This is mercy. This is God’s merciful love telling us, “Take time to reflect. As you want to judge another, is there something you want to bring to me for healing, love and mercy?” God is with us in our journey to the magis, to the more, always lifting us up and encouraging us. (Kemler, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Seeing the speck in another's eye,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"The word hypocrite is aptly employed here (Luke 6:42, Matthew 7:5), since the denouncing of evils is best viewed as a matter only for upright persons of goodwill. When the wicked engage in it, they are like impersonators, masqueraders, hiding their real selves behind a mask, while they portray anothers character through the mask. The word hypocrites in fact signifies pretenders. Hence we ought especially to avoid that meddlesome class of pretenders who under the pretense of seeking advice undertake the censure of all kinds of vices. They are often moved by hatred and malice. Rather, whenever necessity compels one to reprove or rebuke another, we ought to proceed with godly discernment and caution. First of all, let us consider whether the other fault is such as we ourselves have never had or whether it is one that we have overcome. Then, if we have never had such a fault, let us remember that we are human and could have had it. But if we have had it and are rid of it now, let us remember our common frailty, in order that mercy, not hatred, may lead us to the giving of correction and admonition. In this way, whether the admonition occasions the amendment or the worsening of the one for whose sake we are offering it (for the result cannot be foreseen), we ourselves shall be made safe through singleness of eye. But if on reflection we find that we ourselves have the same fault as the one we are about to reprove, let us neither correct nor rebuke that one. Rather, let us bemoan the fault ourselves and induce that person to a similar concern, without asking him to submit to our correction."(excerpt from Sermon on the Mount 2.19.64) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 6:39-42 comments that while we may not experience as dramatic and sudden an intervention as Paul did, Jesus’ words are for all of us. He invites us to embrace humility and be open to seeing—and removing—any beams in our eyes: beams of judgment, unforgiveness, or habits that keep us from loving other people. Like Paul, we can welcome someone like Ananias by inviting them to pray for us.

When you see splinters in other people’s eyes, pause to remember how your own beams have blinded you. Just as Paul’s past life helped him to remain humble, so we can allow our own shortcomings to help us treat the people around us with gentleness and mercy.

“Lord, thank you for opening my eyes to see clearly and giving me the humility to love people as you love them.” (Meditation on Luke 6:39-42, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that first Timothy is one of the Pastoral Letters written in the name of Paul because theology, vocabulary and establishment of the Church are not the same as in Paul’s authentic letters. God is merciful and called him to be an apostle. Incredible mercy and compassion is celebrated by the author. The Gospel of Luke warns about choosing the blind as a guide. We need to listen to people of integrity. Don't judge and correct when we have faults in our life. God has given some more grace and sets the expectation that we act accordingly. Remove the beam blocking our vision before the splinter in the eye of others. Our own conversion is the best example shown in the true motivation for the good of the other. Friar Jude reminds us to sort out our judgement of others with the help of the Spirit.

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, encourages us to bring our contemplative minds to the question of power and act according to the gospel. We must work hard to dismantle systems of domination, he emphatically states, together with our fellow Christian elders and leaders.

We believe our elected officials are called to public service, not public tyranny, so we must protect the limits, checks, and balances of democracy and encourage humility and civility on the part of elected officials…. 

We reject any moves toward autocratic political leadership and authoritarian rule…. Disrespect for the rule of law, not recognizing the equal importance of our three branches of government, and replacing civility with dehumanizing hostility toward opponents are of great concern to us. Neglecting the ethic of public service and accountability, in favor of personal recognition and gain often characterized by offensive arrogance, are not just political issues for us. They raise deeper concerns about political idolatry, accompanied by false and unconstitutional notions of authority. [2] 

What if we actually surrendered to the inner Trinitarian flow and let it be our primary teacher? Our view of politics and authority would utterly change. We already have all the power (dynamis) we need both within us and between us—in fact, Jesus assures us that we are already “clothed” in it “from on high” (see Luke 24:49)! (Rohr, n.d.)

We implore the Spirit to inform our decision to follow and support leadership based on love, care and compassion for all of God’s Creation as we seek to remove the obstacles.

References

Kemler, K. (n.d.). Daily Reflections. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-september-12-2025 

Luke, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/6?39 

Meditation on Luke 6:39-42. (n.d.). Word Among Us Homepage. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/09/12/1381441/ 

1 Timothy, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1timothy/1?1 

Psalms, PSALM 16 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/16?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/calling-for-good-power/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Do You Not See the Log in Your Own Eye? Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=sep12 

Just Distribution for Life

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to recognize and seek just decisions from the people we choose to trust with leadership in our organizations, community, and country.

Justice for All

The Reading from the Book of Judges describes leadership qualities using trees.

* [9:9] Whereby gods and human beings are honored: olive oil had a variety of cultic uses (e.g., Lv 2:1, 6, 15; 24:2), and it was also used in the consecration of priests and kings for office (e.g., Ex 30:25, 30; 1 Sm 10:1; 16:13).

* [9:13] Cheers gods: wine was part of a number of types of offerings in the Israelite cult (cf. Ex 29:40; Lv 23:13; Nm 15:7, 10), and it was also used widely in the worship of foreign gods (cf. Dt 32:37–38; Is 65:11). (Judges, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 21 presents a royal Psalm of thanksgiving.

* [Psalm 21] The first part of this royal Psalm is a thanksgiving (Ps 21:2–8), and the second is a promise that the king will triumph over his enemies (Ps 21:9–13). The king’s confident prayer (Ps 21:3–5) and trust in God (Ps 21:8) enable him to receive the divine gifts of vitality, peace, and military success. Ps 21:14 reprises Ps 21:2. When kings ceased in Israel after the sixth century B.C., the Psalm was sung of a future Davidic king. (Psalms, PSALM 21 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew presents a parable about payment of the The Workers in the Vineyard.

* [20:1–16] This parable is peculiar to Matthew. It is difficult to know whether the evangelist composed it or received it as part of his traditional material and, if the latter is the case, what its original reference was. In its present context its close association with Mt 19:30 suggests that its teaching is the equality of all the disciples in the reward of inheriting eternal life.

* [20:4] What is just: although the wage is not stipulated as in the case of those first hired, it will be fair.

* [20:8] Beginning with the last…the first: this element of the parable has no other purpose than to show how the first knew what the last were given (Mt 20:12).

* [20:13] I am not cheating you: literally, “I am not treating you unjustly.”

* [20:14–15] The owner’s conduct involves no violation of justice (Mt 20:4, 13), and that all the workers receive the same wage is due only to his generosity to the latest arrivals; the resentment of the first comes from envy.

* [20:16] See note on Mt 19:30. (Matthew, CHAPTER 20 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rev. Anish Kochanichottil, SJ, comments that God’s justice is not like our justice.

We often calculate who deserves what. God looks at us with mercy. He wants everyone to be brought in, to be saved, to be fed, whether they came early or late, whether they were strong from the start or struggled along the way.

The workers who came last were not lazy. They just did not get a chance earlier. And sometimes, our jealousy or sense of fairness blinds us to the goodness we have already received.

The grace I feel we can pray for today is this: to know God’s generous and compassionate heart more deeply, so that we do not judge others or envy their blessings but instead rejoice that we are all part of one family, held in the love of a God whose justice is mercy. (Kochanichottil, 2025)

Don Schwager quotes “Christ our householder,” author unknown, from the 5th century A.D.

"The householder [in Matthew's parable - chapter 20] is Christ, to whom the heavens and the earth are like a single house; the family is as it were the multitude of creatures both angelic and earthly. It is as if he built a three-storied house: hell, heaven and earth, so that those struggling may live upon the earth, those conquered below the earth, those conquering in heaven. We too, set in the middle, should strive not to descend to those who are in hell but ascend to those who are in heaven. And in case perhaps you do not know which one you ought to shun or which one you ought to aspire to, he has given you as it were a little taste of both while you live between light and darkness: night as a taste of hell, daylight as a taste of heaven." (excerpt from an incomplete Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, HOMILY 34) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 20:1-16 comments that Jesus tells this parable to help us understand the Father’s kindness. Think about the salvation God offers us: it was first for the Jews, who “labored in the field” the longest, and then for the Gentiles, who joined “late in the day.” Both received the same priceless gift! And that reveals the extravagant “unfair” generosity of God, who “wills everyone to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4).

Putting ourselves in another person’s shoes is a good exercise for us, too. Because we can be like those workers in this parable, upset at someone else’s good fortune. Whether it’s a coworker who is promoted before us or the “deathbed conversion” of a notorious criminal, we might envy their blessings. So ask the Holy Spirit to give you a sense of the joy of your promoted coworker or that lost soul who has been found. And see the Father’s delight as he generously offers his gifts to all his children.

“Holy Spirit, help me to share in my neighbors’ joy as they receive God’s provision!” (Meditation on Matthew 20:1-16, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler reflects on the texts of today. The Judges reading presents an attempt to change from a charismatically called office to start a hereditary royal line. The Buckthorn is chosen to underline suffering the consequences of a bad leader. The vineyard owner pays the last the same as the first ,a day’s wage. It is seemingly unfair. Typical of Matthew in the final judgement, the reward is closeness to God and it is the same for all who come. God is generous. Friar Jude reminds us of the mercy and goodness in the Parable of the Prodigal Son and the anger of the older brother. We should be thrilled if great sinners are converted.

Brian McLaren describes how contemplative practices allow us to “mind our mind,” making space for thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations without getting caught up in them. 

Contemplation liberates me from being a perpetual prisoner of my trains of thoughts and feelings; it helps me realize that I am not my thoughts and feelings. It helps me see that these inner reactions and negotiations happen to me and within me without my consent, like digestion, like sleep, like fatigue or laughter.  

In the stillness, new insights, comfort, and ways of being often arise. If stepping off the train is letting go, and if dwelling in the stillness is letting be, receiving these gifts is letting come. When these new gifts come, I experience a kind of liberation, a setting free. All of my best creative work seems to flow from this deep place of restful, receptive awareness beneath my mental subway system…. 

What we experience in the letting-come phase some people describe as intuition. Many would call it the gentle voice of God speaking within them. Seasoned contemplatives like Thomas Merton describe letting go, letting be, letting come, and setting free as discovering the true self. Others call it becoming the best self. I tend to think of it as becoming the integrated, unitive, or connected self…. (McLaren, n.d.)

We seek the guidance of the Spirit as we contemplate the way in which we offer justice to the people we encounter in our daily work in the vineyard of Christ.

References

Judges, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 20, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/judges/9?6 

Kochanichottil, A. (2025, August 20). Daily Reflection August 20, 2025 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved August 20, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-august-20-2025 

Matthew, CHAPTER 20 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 20, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/20?1 

McLaren, B. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 20, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/mind-your-mind/ 

Meditation on Matthew 20:1-16. (n.d.). The Word Among Us. Retrieved August 20, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/08/20/1359494/ 

Psalms, PSALM 21 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 20, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/21?2 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Do You Begrudge My Generosity? Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 20, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=aug20