Public servants

THE STORY is told about a young man coming out from a church service one day. The pastor pulled him aside and said, "Young man, you need to join the army of the Lord!" The young man answered, "I'm already in the army of the Lord, pastor." "How come I don't see you except at Christmas and at Easter?" the pastor asked. "I'm in the Secret Service," he whispered in reply.

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In today's Gospel (Jn. 21, 1-19), Jesus, the Risen Lord, commissions Peter to public service. His mandate is clear: to look after His sheep, and to feed them. Jesus spells out the essence of public service, which is sacrifice and commitment borne out of love for God. As we prepare ourselves for the coming elections, we must choose true public servants, true shepherds, and not scheming and greedy wolves who are out to devour us. We must choose leaders who have a sense of sacrifice, a commitment for the common good, a love for God and for His people.

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If we are to go by qualifications, the disciples of Jesus would hardly qualify to serve in His army. By worldly standards, they were simple, unintelligent, rough and uncultured people who only knew how to fish. Neither did they have the experience of management or governance needed to carry out the mandate of spreading the good news. Furthermore, they were all dropouts who failed in the final hour when their Master was arrested. Qualified? No. Worthy? No. And yet Jesus chose them. And they changed the world. And they served God's people well. Why? Because they had a heart for God, and a heart for His people.

Without the heart, there can never be true public service. This is not to belittle the mind. Definitely we need public servants with intelligence. But public servants without a heart, without commitment and sacrifice? Forget it. They will just rob us, and use us, and manipulate us. And all in the name of public service!

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Have you noticed the sudden and continuous "feeding" of our people these days? With the elections coming, our people are all of a sudden being fed with jobs, projects, services, entertainment and pleasantries. This is not the kind of feeding the Lord is asking of public servants. This kind of feeding is self-serving and temporary. We need public servants who, in Jesus' words, will look after the sheep, and who will stretch out their hands and allow themselves to be led.

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Who is really looking after the good of the people? We need a few good men and women who have a heart for the people, and we can get this nation moving. Let us pray that someday, soon, we will have public servants who have the public good, and not their personal agenda uppermost in their hearts and minds. The problem is that even if such people exist, they will hardly make it given our present-day politics of guns, goons and gold. And if they do make it, many of them will soon be eaten up by the system. If they are too tough to be eaten up, sooner or later, they will be cast out; and if that is not enough, they will be eliminated all together. The picture, I'm afraid, is not very bright. Neither were the pictures on the first 100 Easter nights.

But the disciples persisted. Slowly, with much pain, persecution and sacrifice, and yes, even death, the disciples were able to make a difference in this world.

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A public servant must have a secret life, a secret life with the Lord, that is. A public servant who is not in tune and not in contact with the Divine-will soon go out of tune and out of contact. One who truly listens to God will not end up abusing, stealing and deceiving.

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By the way, a lot of sins have been made "in the name of public service." Also, "in the name of God." Public servants should not use God, and the name of God in vain.

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Going over the Gospel today, I was struck by Jesus' thoughtfulness for His disciples. He made the fire for them. But He also asked them to bring in the fish. Perhaps that's what public service is all about: a partnership with the Lord to work for His people. A true public servant then is one who says: "Lord, I am doing this work FOR YOU, WITH YOU and THROUGH YOU." Amen.

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Inviting you to join the Walk with God to Manaoag this May 1, starting at the Urdaneta Church at 6 a.m. Let us do this three-hour walk ending with a Mass at 11 a.m. at the Manaoag Shrine to thank God for all our blessings, and to present to the Lord our intentions, especially for clean and honest elections, and for the Filipinos to have good and effective leaders in our land. We are confident that the Blessed Mother will help us, as she has always done in the past. See you there!

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A moment with the Lord:

Lord, give us public servants who do their work FOR YOU, WITH YOU and THROUGH YOU. Amen.