He who is a hireling

Once, I contemplated serving the Church as a perpetual deacon. I attended gatherings organized by Deacon Carl Tsang in our parish. I studied the handbook he gave me. I prayed hard to find out if it was truly a call from God. If it was not, my becoming a deacon would bring more harm than good to the Church. God answered. He gave me Symphorian who would take up at least 16 years of my attention or even more. God's will is clear. He doesn't want me to serve in the hierarchy of the Church. I should render my service elsewhere.
Priests come in different breeds. Some are very effective administrators, running parishes, schools, commissions well. Some are very holy spiritual directors. Some are candid men of justice, yet very approachable. Some are taking Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 9:22 to the extreme, driving people away. I should not pass judgment on how they perform. It is God's job to judge, not mine. I only have the duty to cooperate to my best in their effort to spread the good news. In short, I do not expect school supervisors to be effective administrators. I only lament that in many cases, the ways they handle a situation bear negative witnesses to the good news of Christ.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them (John 10:11-12).
These lines remind us of the late Archbishop Dominic Tang, a Jesuit, who had been imprisoned for 22 years in mainland China. Just imagine. Spending the prime of your life in prison for Jesus. What a great sacrifice and what a great glory! Archbishop Tang was a model of good shepherd.
In these areas of sacrifice and martyrdom, priests are experts and are inspiring. I remember in my youthful days, I was lucky enough to be shepherded by two P.I.M.E. priests, the more famous Fr. Tapella and the lesser known Fr. Lazarus. They were lucky too to be exempted from the duties as school supervisors. They had the opportunities to inspire us with their heroic sacrifices. The selfless offering of their lives reach out through us and their love ripples past us to less fortunate handicapped children. Their spirits live on. However, had they been administrators, they would probably have been very lousy and would have disappointed many. I think John had been too harsh on the hirelings. After all, they are human like everyone of us. They have strengths as well as weaknesses.

My sweet Jesus, You are the Good Shepherd. You have overcome death. You have turned the worst evil into a blessing of life. Let us humbly accept Your arrangement, trusting that You will bring forth good from evil. Thank You Jesus. Our priests have not yet abused minors. Amen.