The pastor’s words made me think of a beautiful thing about Our Lady. When Our Lady, just having received the announcement that she would be the mother of Jesus, and the announcement that her cousin Elizabeth was expecting, the Gospel says, she set out in haste; she did not wait. She did not say to herself, “But I’m pregnant now, so I had better look after my health. My cousin will have friends who perhaps will help her.” She heard something and she “set out in haste.” It is lovely to think about these actions of Our Lady, our Mother, who sets out in haste, because it tells us about helping. She goes to help, she does not go to boast and say to her cousin: “Now listen, I’m in charge now because I am God’s mamma!” No she did not do that. She went to help! And Our Lady is always like this. She is our Mother, who always comes in haste when we need help. It would be nice to add to the litanies of Our Lady one that says “Lady who sets out in haste, pray for us!” This is beautiful, isn’t it? Because she always goes in haste she does not forget her children. And when her children are in difficulty, have a need and they call upon her, she goes in haste. And this makes us safe, the safety of always having our mother near, at our side. We go, we travel better in life when we have our mamma near. Let us think about this grace of Our Lady, this grace that she gives us: of being with us, but without making us wait. Always! She is – we have confidence in this – there to help us. Our Lady who always goes in haste, for us.
--Pope Francis, Homily, 26 May 2013, Sts. Elizabeth and Zechariah Parish
http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-s-homily-during-mass-at-sts-elizabeth-and-zechariah-parish-in-rome?utm_campaign=weeklyhtml&utm_medium=email&utm_source=dispatch
Mary goes in haste to help us
Favor of men or of God (St. Paul)
For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I seeking to please men?
If I were still trying to please men, I should not be a servant of Christ.
Galatians 1:10
ST JOSEPH
Speaking to the crowd and to his disciples, Jesus declared: "You have only one Father" (Mt 23:9). There is but one fatherhood, that of God the Father, the one Creator of the world, "of all that is seen and unseen". Yet man, created in the image of God, has been granted a share in this one paternity of God (cf. Eph 3:15). Saint Joseph is a striking case of this, since he is a father, without fatherhood according to the flesh. He is not the biological father of Jesus, whose Father is God alone, and yet he lives his fatherhood fully and completely. To be a father means above all to be at the service of life and growth. Saint Joseph, in this sense, gave proof of great devotion. For the sake of Christ he experienced persecution, exile and the poverty which this entails. He had to settle far from his native town. His only reward was to be with Christ. His readiness to do all these things illustrates the words of Saint Paul: "It is Christ the Lord whom you serve" (Col 3:24).
What is important is not to be a useless servant, but rather a "faithful and wise servant". The pairing of the two adjectives is not by chance. It suggests that understanding without fidelity, and fidelity without wisdom, are insufficient. One quality alone, without the other, would not enable us to assume fully the responsibility which God entrusts to us.
Dear brother priests, you are called to live out this fatherhood in the daily tasks of your ministry. In the words of the conciliar Constitution Lumen Gentium: "As their fathers in Christ, priests should care for the faithful whom they have spiritually begotten by Baptism and instruction" (No. 28). If this is the case, how can we not continually return to the very foundation of our priesthood, the Lord Jesus Christ? Our personal relationship with Jesus is constitutive of the way we wish to live our lives. He has called us his friends because everything which he learned from the Father he has made known to us (cf. Jn 15:15). In living out this deep friendship with Christ you will discover true freedom and deep joy.
The ministerial priesthood entails a profound relationship with Christ who is given to us in the Eucharist. Let the celebration of the Eucharist be truly the centre of your priestly lives; in this way it will also be the centre of your ecclesial mission. Throughout our lives Christ calls us to share in his mission, to be his witnesses, so that his word may be proclaimed to all. In celebrating this sacrament in the Lord’s name and in his person, the person of the priest cannot occupy centre stage; he is a servant, a humble instrument pointing to Christ, who offers himself in sacrifice for the salvation of the world. As Jesus teaches us, "the leader must become as one who serves" (Lk 22:26).
Origen writes that "Joseph understood that Jesus was superior to him even as he submitted to him, and, knowing the superiority of his charge, he commanded him with respect and moderation. Everyone should reflect on this: frequently a lesser man is placed over people who are greater, and it happens at times that an inferior is more worthy than the one who appears to be set above him. If a person of greater dignity understands this, then he will not be puffed up with pride because of his higher rank; he will know that his inferior may well be superior to him, even as Jesus was subject to Joseph" (Homily on Saint Luke XX, 5; S.C. p. 287).
(Benedict XVI, Reflection on St Joseph, Vespers, Cameroon, 18 March 2009)
5 attributes of inspirational leaders
John Maxwell
The Sahara plays tricks on the eyes of its travelers. As the desert sun beats down on the sand, heat waves rise from the ground. Light bends as it passes through the superheated air, painting illusory pictures on the horizon. To thirsty travelers moving through the Sahara, it often appears as if an oasis looms in the distance. However, as the voyagers journey on, the oasis proves to be nothing more than a mirage.
Unfortunately, the ranks of leadership are inhabited by a host of mirages: People who look impressive from a distance, but end up being disappointments. After being fooled by a few mirages, followers become jaded about leadership. That seems as true now as it ever has been. Our trust in leaders has been shaken as politicians have reneged on promises, CEOs have squandered money entrusted to their firms and managers have advanced self-interests above all else.
To restore society’s confidence with those in power, leaders have to be able to inspire. I’m not talking about inspiring someone to buy into the corporate vision statement, to meet quarterly sales goals, or to work more efficiently. These aren’t bad things, but right now, people are looking for a leader attuned to their personal needs. They want leaders who will encourage them, believe in their potential and help them grow.
Attitude of service
To be an inspirational leader, you must adopt an attitude of service toward those you lead. This requires laying aside selfish interests to add value to another person. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” When you serve, you awaken something magnetic inside of you. People are drawn to follow you because they know you’ll find ways to make them better.
Affirmation
To inspire means to have a positive view of others. If we’re not careful, we become fault-finders, magnifying the flaws in everyone around us. Instead, leaders should emulate gold prospectors — always on the lookout for potential gold mines. When they find traces of ore, prospectors assume there’s a rich vein to unearth, and they start digging. In the same fashion, leaders ought to search for the best traits within a person and commit to uncovering them.
One of the best applications of this idea is expressed in what I call the 101-percent principle: Find the one thing that you believe is a person’s greatest asset, and then give 100-percent encouragement in that area. Focusing on a person’s strengths inspires them by promoting confidence, growth and success.
Attentiveness
Great inspirers know the desires of those they lead. As much as people respect the knowledge and ability of their leaders, these are secondary concerns for them. They don’t care how much their leaders know until they know how much their leaders care. When leaders attend to the deeply felt needs of their team, the determination and commitment of each team member skyrockets.
Availability
Leaders inspire by intentionally investing time in the people they lead. They make themselves available. People cannot be nurtured from a distance or by infrequent spurts of attention. They need a leader to spend time with them — planned time, not just a conversation in passing.
In our fast-paced and demanding world, time is a leader’s most precious commodity. While it feels costly to give up, nothing communicates that you value a person more than the gift of your time. In addition, investing time to develop others has a way of reaping dividends. As Ralph Waldo Emerson remarked, “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.”
Authenticity
To inspire, leaders have to be genuine. More than anything else, followers want to believe in and trust their leaders. However, when leaders break promises or fail to honor commitments, they reveal themselves as being inauthentic and they lose credibility. Trust rests upon a foundation of authenticity. To gain trust, a leader must consistently align words and deeds, while showing a degree of transparency.
Summary
Inspirational leadership can be confused with momentary charisma. I prefer to think about inspiring as more of a process than an event. More than a brilliant speech, it is cultivating habits of brilliance that manifest themselves daily. By modeling the five attributes of an inspiring leader, I trust that you’ll win the respect of those you lead and earn the right to influence them.
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)
[To ensure] "your faith is always strong and vigorous, it is important, as you well know, to nourish it with assiduous prayer. Be, then, models of prayer, become masters of prayer. The moment of prayer is the most important moment in a priest's life, the moment in which divine grace acts most effectively, making his ministry fruitful. Prayer is the first service to be offered to the community.
(Pope Benedict XVI, Brindisi, 15 June 2008)
(Comment of a Sister on Mother Teresa.)
She seemed to delight in you. It was not something of charity that was burdensome, which destroys the dignity of the poor, but it was something that she delighted in.... You had the sense that she considered it a privilege to do this. She comforted you when you were sad. She encouraged you when you were doubting whether you could do something.
(Come Be My Light, p 336)
You are there for your Sisters--the Sisters are not there for you. You must be ready for any sacrifice--so to say, to be eaten up by your Sisters. You may sometimes feel great loneliness--but this is one of the sacrifices you can make for your Sisters. It often happens that those who spend their time giving light to others remain in darkness themselves.
(Blessed Mother Teresa, Letter to superiors, Come Be My Light, p 248)