Our Lady of Lourdes Church and School

As I write, the nation is preparing for the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States. By the time this column will be available for reading, Mr. Trump will have taken the oath, Mr. Obama together with his family and his administration will have vacated the White House, and the new leadership of the executive branch of our government will be settling into their roles and responsibilities. It is a time of great transition in the history of our nation, as every presidential transition is. While  the divisiveness of the campaign seems to have lingered longer than in prior years, the incredible institution of democracy as it is lived in these United States remains quite enviable in many parts of our world. While overseas recently, this was made manifest to me on more than one occasion. I was reminded by those whom I met while traveling - and I don’t think I’m over-exaggerating -  that the world continues to look to the United States for example and for leadership. Curiously, while domestically we seem to focus on individuals and on characters who serve the nation in particular offices and roles, the onlookers whom I met were more focused on “we, the people”, and how we hope to work toward a better world.

It’s natural for us, I suppose, to look to individuals and to those in roles of leadership for the fulfillment of much of what we hope for in our world. We look to politicians, to bishops, to civic and church leaders, to captains of industry, for guidance and even for solutions to challenges that confound most of us in our mere mortality. But today’s gospel is quite telling. We read Matthew’s narrative of transition and transformation. John the Baptist is arrested and is no longer available to the people. A young preacher from Nazareth leaves his home and moves to a new house, near Capernaum. John’s message of repentance is echoed, but there is a sense of profound transition about to unfold. Jesus calls others to accompany him, and invites them to trust him as he outlines a new vision for being in the world. He calls them to join him as he shows them an alternative set of values for living, and as he mentors them into living differently. What stimulates my attention is that Jesus doesn’t do for people, but rather he invites and empowers people to take action in their own lives. His style of leadership involves showing people that they can be more if they choose to be, that their lives can be better if they choose to make them better.

As we enter upon a new year and a new chapter in the life of our country, we are faced with some interesting choices. Might we choose to be passive individuals, choosing to have decisions made for us and perhaps expecting things to be done for us. Or might we take up the challenge of citizenship that characterizes mature democracy and in which we rise to the ideal of acting to make our world and our lives better for ourselves and for one another in service of the common good? As we hear Jesus calling the twelve to his side today, I wonder if we can hear a call for ourselves to re-making the world as Jesus sought to? What values will guide us? Whom will we choose as mentors and role-models? Might the words and actions of a young preacher newly arrived arrived from Nazareth inspire us?