Training on Organizational Development and Program Management

Rural Missionaries of the Philippines August 15-17, 2014 OMI Mission Center
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MODULE 4: Leading Function of Management

Fr. Alex Bercasio,CssR
Formator, St. Clements Seminary

Servant Leadership*

(* The concept of Servant Leadership was originally developed by Geraldino Loyola, Redemptorist Lay Missionary
and Romeo Tusi, Redemptorist Lay Missionary)

I am sure I will share ideas that are already known to you. But Pope Francis encourages us not to
get tired of repeating and proclaiming God’s love to all people. This is the very reason of our
existence as a servant church; a channel of God’s liberating love and justice.

Characteristics of Christ-centered Leadership

1. Liberating – “God’s salvation is liberation from everything that oppresses man (EN9)
2. Reasonable – “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things
shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)
3. Just – “Act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

Importance of Christ-Centered Leadership

1. Represents the church of the poor

2. Has a definite direction (mission)
3. Has the capacity to be analytical, humble, uniting and with genuine love for the poor

Attitudes of Christ as a Servant

1. Self-emptying Attitude
....who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing
to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in
the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by
becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross...... (Philippians 2:6-8)

2. “Courage to live among the victim (“weak) and abandoned”

We need to rediscover the truth that the heart of Christian life is an option for
vulnerability, because our God chose to be vulnerable as he offered himself at the last
supper in gesture of total surrender: “take and eat, this is my body”.

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Training on Organizational Development and Program Management
Rural Missionaries of the Philippines August 15-17, 2014 OMI Mission Center
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

3. With messianic compassion

To the sight of the crying human needs Jesus reacts with messianic compassion. The
cases reported in the Gospels are: a leper with his petitions (Mark 1:41), the people like
sheep without a shepherd (Mark 6:34, Matthew 15:32), the sight of the harassed and
exhausted crowd shortly before sending out of the twelve (Matthew 9:36), two blind men
who besought him (Matthew 20; 34) and the widow of Nain mourning for her only son
(Luke 7:13). In Mark 9:22 it is used in the petition for driving out the demon.

4. Servant leaders as spirit-filled evangelizers

Spirit-filled evangelizers fearlessly open to the working of the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost,
the Spirit made the apostles go forth from themselves and turned them into heralds of
God’s wondrous deeds, capable of speaking to each person in his or her own language.
The Holy Spirit also grants the courage to proclaim the newness of the Gospel with
boldness (parrhesia) in every time and place, even when it meets with opposition. Let us
call upon him today, firmly rooted in prayer, for without prayer all our activity risks
being fruitless and our message empty. Jesus want evangelizers who proclaim the good
news not only with words, but above all by a life transfigured by God’s presence.
(EVANGELII GUADIUM 259)

5. A joy ever new, a Joy which is shared (EVANGELII GUADIUM #2)

A servant leader must have inner joy and freedom to serve. The inner disposition is
crucial in aiming good fruits to one’s labor. We are all workers in the vineyard of the
Lord who generously gives us an opportunity to work (cf. Matthew 20:1-16). To work in
the vineyard of the Lord is coming from the generosity of God. We have the duty to give
to God and to his people what is due them. Much of the fruits of our work and labor
depend on the immensity of inner joyful disposition and enthusiasm that we bring along
in our pastoral field.

Why Some Christian Leaders are Doomed to Fail

1. Shift in standpoint

2. Poor communication
3. Fear of failure
4. Ethics slip
5. Poor self-management
6. Loss of meaning in life

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