Archbishop: Leaders must be humble

ROMAN Catholic Archbishop of Port of Spain, the most reverend Jason Gordon, urged leaders to show humility, as Jesus did in washing his followers’ feet and in being crucified for mankind’s sins, in his homily at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Independence Square, Port of Spain, on Holy Thursday.

“Jesus teaches us about true leadership, as he washes the feet of his disciples.

To be a great leader, you have to be a servant.”

Recalling how much parents help their children such as by chauffeuring them to lessons, he said, “Parents are called to serve their children. That message of leadership must start in the family. You are of service to them (children.)

“But we forget that when we go to church and public life, as if you must be lord of all and dominating over all, the opposite to the Christian church.”

Gordon said great leaders are those who serve greatly, citing the figures of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Pope John Paul II.

Minutes before he himself washed the feet of several parishioners, Gordon said, “Foot washing is not a nice liturgical gesture but a lesson in leadership.” “The essence of leadership must be through humility. Only through humility can we find hope in this land and serve the next generation.”

Gordon said we must each ask ourselves if we are willing to serve or only want others to serve us.

“If we are not willing to serve, we are not yet Christians.” Service will let us unleash a power onto the world second to none, he said.

“Through the humility of Holy Thursday, we enter into Good Friday.

“Take this humility and allow God to lead us to where He wants us to be.”

Earlier, Gordon said Jesus took the place of the sacrificial lamb in his crucifixion on Good Friday, in place of the spotless lamb traditionally sacrificed by Jews to mark the Passover commemoration.