A community or a nation is not simply the sum of its members, and it is surely not the sum of its leaders. So what is a community? What makes a nation?

One reply might be: the sum of the attitudes or actions of love and justice of all of its members.

At a time when we are so deluded by leadership in general when we look around, I feel we should ask ourselves: What am I doing? Do I have the right to expect more?

Yes we do! We have the right to expect more if it is more love and more justice. But we have the right to expect more, or better, only if we are part of that more, and that better.

Plato might have gone a bit too far, but surely his words might help us reflect: “The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men”.

Being part of a nation, of a community – also of our church communities – means actively living what the nation or community expects from us and we expect from it. First of all we have to be part of it. As D. Bonhoeffer put it: “How would you expect to find community while you intentionally withdraw from it at some point?”

Simon Sinek says you are a leader only if “your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more”. Sometimes our apathy is expressed in expecting less from our leaders. We might expect them to safeguard our pockets more than our values. We might expect them to promote our comfort rather than the value of our work. We might expect them to lessen our fears more than respecting the dignity of every human person. The list can go on.

The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men- Plato

Let us expect from our politicians and leaders the best and nothing less than the best, with no compromise for our egoistic purposes.

Christ’s words are direct: “You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world” (Mt 5:13-16). We are the ones called to take action, not others; and our action can be wide reaching as well.

We need to speak up for justice, we need to act in the name of love, which might not necessarily match our personal interests. We need to start acting justly in our day-to-day relationships, giving our best, whether it is in the family or at our workplace, and only then will we be the light of our world. We are called to speak up for justice without fear, since what we’re speaking for is love.

A poster in the recent Romanian protests struck me. It read: “Protesting is praying with feet”. There is no faith, no spirituality that is restricted to the private personal sector; it does not make sense. If I am truly religious or spiritual, this has to lead me to change my life into concrete actions of love and justice. We need to act on what moves inside us, so long as we have the right motives.

Sometimes we expect less, even from our faith. But what do we expect from our faith communities, our parishes? Are they simply service stations, where I go and receive the fuel that is available? Or should I be a contributor there as well?

Am I expecting to be truly challenged in my faith, motivated in my spirituality, accompanied in life, while accompanying others and being of service in my community? Or is Timothy Keller right when he said “Everyone says they want community and friendship. But mention accountability or commitment to people, and they run the other way”?

Let us expect more from others, but first and foremost, let us expect more from ourselves. Let us raise our voice especially for more love and justice, but while doing so, let us maintain respect in our words, faithfulness in our actions, and always respond with love and justice, if need be even towards our aggressors.

tonimifsud@yahoo.com