In our Gospel reading today (Matthew 4:18–22), Jesus entrusted the leadership of the Church to ordinary men who clearly lacked status, formal education, or social influence. Why did He not choose gifted leaders, brilliant intellectuals, or men who could easily command respect and obedience?

The same question arises today when people look at the Church and wonder why so few of its leaders possess the charisma, eloquence, or influence of prominent public figures. Yet the Gospel makes one truth unmistakably clear: Jesus does not choose His apostles on the basis of merit or prior qualifications, but out of His mercy and compassion. Saint Mother Teresa expressed this beautifully when she said, “God called us, not for what we are, but for what we can become through His grace.”

When Jesus called the future leaders of the Church, He saw them not merely as weak and imperfect men, but as persons capable of growth, conversion, and holiness. He knew that if they cooperated with His grace, they would become the leaders the Church so desperately needed.

History, however, shows that this was not always the case. Many leaders, both in the Church and in other spheres of human endeavor, have resisted the transforming power of God’s grace. Instead of exercising authentic leadership, they inflicted misery and injustice upon those they were meant to serve.

Governments provide a sobering example of this. In the Philippines, for instance, there have been numerous instances in which leaders became misleaders through corruption, bribery, abuse of power, incompetence, bias, error, or neglect. This sad reality prompted the creation of the Office of the Ombudsman, an independent constitutional body tasked with investigating complaints against government leaders and recommending the filing of cases before appropriate courts or administrative bodies.

In his insightful research, Emil Bolongaita, an international governance expert, academic, and anti-corruption specialist, compared Indonesia’s Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK), or Corruption Eradication Commission (established in 2003), with our own Office of the Ombudsman. Bolongaita observed that within just five years of its establishment, the KPK achieved a 100 percent conviction rate against corrupt officials across all major branches of Indonesia’s government. It also made significant strides in preventing corruption and recovering ill-gotten wealth from convicted government leaders.

By contrast, after several years of existence, the Philippine Office of the Ombudsman secured only a handful of convictions. Of the hundreds of cases it filed before the Sandiganbayan, very few resulted in guilty verdicts, and many decisions never became executory.

Bolongaita concludes that this disparity reflects deeper political and institutional realities. Indonesia’s KPK achieved a high success rate due to strong public support and a reformist political and legislative climate. In contrast, the Philippine Ombudsman operates within a system marked by weak political commitment, limited institutional autonomy, and the absence of sustained citizen engagement.

Moreover, the Ombudsman relies heavily on judicial courts and the Philippine Congress to enforce its decisions. These institutions are widely perceived as slow, politicized, and susceptible to influence. As a result, many cases are dismissed, reversed on appeal, or effectively buried under procedural delays and legal technicalities.

Our government leaders frequently profess allegiance to the rule of law. Yet the philosopher Aristotle had warned a long time ago that when citizens are ignorant of legal intricacies, the rule of law degenerates into the “rule of lawyers.” Today, many corrupt leaders treat the courts as the final arbiters of right and wrong, parroting the rule of law like a hollow mantra while hiring elite lawyers to bend justice in their favor.

The Gospel, however, reminds us that true authority does not come from legal maneuvering but from fidelity to God and love of neighbor. Jesus calls leaders not to dominate, but to serve; not to amass wealth and privilege, but to foster the welfare of their constituents. Let us pray that our leaders, both in the Church and government, develop the humility to listen to the voice of conscience, and allow God’s grace to transform them into men and women with integrity, compassion, and sacrificial love.