LOVE AND THE ROD
“Your rod and your staff – they comfort me”: the shepherd needs the rod as protection against savage beasts ready to pounce on the flock; against robbers looking for prey. Along with the rod there is the staff which gives support and helps to make difficult crossings. Both of these are likewise part of the Church’s ministry, of the priest’s ministry. The Church too must use the shepherd’s rod, the rod with which he protects the faith against those who falsify it, against currents which lead the flock astray. The use of the rod can actually be a service of love. Today we can see that it has nothing to do with love when conduct unworthy of the priestly life is tolerated. Nor does it have to do with love if heresy is allowed to spread and the faith twisted and chipped away, as if it were something that we ourselves had invented. As if it were no longer God’s gift, the precious pearl which we cannot let be taken from us. Even so, the rod must always become once again the shepherd’s staff – a staff which helps men and women to tread difficult paths and to follow the Lord.
--Benedict XVI, Homily, Closing of the Year for Priests, 11 June 2010
PRINCIPLE OF SUBSIDIARITY
Exodus 18:13-27
On the following day, Moses took his seat to administer justice for the people, and from morning till evening they stood round him. Observing what labours he took on himself for the people’s sake, the father-in-law of Moses said to him, ‘Why do you take all this on yourself for the people? Why sit here alone with the people standing round you from morning till evening?’ Moses answered his father-in-law, ‘Because the people come to me to bring their enquiries to God. When they have some dispute they come to me, and I settle the differences between the one and the other and instruct them in God’s statutes and his decisions.’ ‘It is not right’ the father-in-law of Moses said to him ‘to take this on yourself. You will tire yourself out, you and the people with you. The work is too heavy for you. You cannot do it alone. Take my advice, and God will be with you. You ought to represent the people before God and bring their disputes to him. Teach them the statutes and the decisions; show them the way they must follow and what their course must be. But choose from the people at large some capable and God-fearing men, trustworthy and incorruptible, and appoint them as leaders of the people: leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, tens. Let these be at the service of the people to administer justice at all times. They can refer all difficult questions to you, but all smaller questions they will decide for themselves, so making things easier for you and sharing the burden with you. If you do this – and may God so command you – you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.’
Moses took his father-in-law’s advice and did as he said. Moses chose capable men from the ranks of the Israelites and set them over the people: leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, tens. They were at the service of the people to administer justice at all times. They referred hard questions to Moses, and decided smaller questions by themselves.
Then Moses allowed his father-in-law to go, and he made his way back to his own country.
Never be fond of playing the superior or the master. I do not agree with one who said to me, a few days ago, that in order to rule well and to maintain authority it is necessary to let everyone see that you are the master. Our Lord Jesus Christ never spoke in this way; He taught us quite the contrary, by word and example, telling us that He had come not to be served but to serve others and that he who would be master must be the servant of all. [p. 109]
(St Vincent de Paul. From Jacques Delarue, The Holiness of Vincent de Paul, Geoffrey Chapman Ltd, London 1960, 132 pp)
It is necessary to be firm but not harsh in ruling and to avoid an insipid gentleness which achieves nothing. We learn from our Lord how our rule should always be accompanied by humility and grace so as to lead hearts to Him and not to put anyone off. [p. 106]
(St Vincent de Paul. From Jacques Delarue, The Holiness of Vincent de Paul, Geoffrey Chapman Ltd, London 1960, 132 pp)
St Vincent de Paul to a superior:
“Put up with everything, (…) again I say everything, so that divesting yourself of your superiority, you adapt yourself to him [a fellow missionary] in charity. This is the means by which our Lord won over and guided the apostles, and the only means by which you will succeed. In consequence, give way to his feelings, never contradict him on the spot; but later, humbly and in friendship, point things out to him.” [p. 87]
(St Vincent de Paul. From Jacques Delarue, The Holiness of Vincent de Paul, Geoffrey Chapman Ltd, London 1960, 132 pp)
How to face the difficulties in one's assignment
St Vincent de Paul to a superior: “The difficulties that you find in your position of authority are not signs that it is not good; on the contrary, our Lord means to show that it is good, since He is putting it to the test. (…) If you had nothing to suffer as superior you would be very happy, but you will be happier still if you stand firm in times of tribulation, for the love of our Lord who set you in this position; and if your humility leads you to think that someone else could stand up to it better than you, your charity should persuade you that it is up to you to put up with it rather than throw the burden off onto another. I have already asked you to be patient, and I ask you again.” [p. 71]
(St Vincent de Paul. From Jacques Delarue, The Holiness of Vincent de Paul, Geoffrey Chapman Ltd, London 1960, 132 pp)