Father Thomas Albers, c . pp . s .
May 4, 1940 – September 30, 2018
Funeral Homily, October 4, 2018
by Fr. Joe Nassal, c.pp.s., Provincial Director
Servant Leadership
In 1970, Robert Greenleaf published an essay called,
“The Servant as Leader.” It was not a new concept—
Jesus taught his disciples about servant leadership
often in the gospels and modeled it clearly on the
night before he died when he washed the feet of his
disciples—but Greenleaf introduced the idea into
the corporate world because he believed that “large
institutions were not doing a good job of serving
individuals or the larger society.” In his essay, which
later became a series of books, he proposed “that the
best leaders were servants first” who through their
gifts of listening, intuition, and persuasion, focus
“primarily on the growth and well-being of people and
the communities to which they belong.”
The test of a good servant leader, Greenleaf said,
is to ask, “Do those served grow as persons? Do
they become healthier, wiser, freer, and more likely
themselves to become servants?” By this measure, I
would propose that Fr. Tom Albers was a great servant
leader. Fr. Tom had what Greenleaf describes as “the
natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first.”
One of my first memories of Tom’s gifts for servant
leadership, and especially his ability to listen and
his persuasive personality, was when he invited me
to lunch a couple of months after he was elected
provincial. He asked me to consider becoming director
of formation for the province. At the time, I was very
happy in Sedalia and wanted to resist the invitation.
But Tom listened intently as we shared a vision for the
future of our formation of members and expanding
the circle of our belonging that included what has
become our Companions movement—and it was
difficult to say no.
As provincial, Fr. Tom was collaborative,
compassionate, and creative—the very definition of
the servant leader who, in Greenleaf ’s words, “shares
power, puts the needs of others first,” and helps people
grow in their potential to be servant leaders. He
certainly helped me those eight years I worked with
4 • The New Wine Press • November 2018
him on the council. Though we didn’t always agree,
Tom listened and all of us on the council felt heard.
A Listening Heart
The qualities of servant leadership that Fr. Tom
embraced in his life are reflected in the familiar gospel
of Jesus encountering the two distraught disciples on
the road to Emmaus. Notice how Jesus “drew near
and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented
from recognizing him.” As he accompanies them, Jesus
asks them what they are discussing, and the disciples
stop in their tracks. They are startled that he had
not heard the news. One of them says, “Are you the
only person in Jerusalem who does not know of the
things that took place in Jerusalem?” I can imagine
the other saying, “Where have you been—in a cave all
weekend?” And Jesus replying, “Well, as a matter of
fact, that’s exactly where I’ve been.”
But Jesus listened to their pain, their confusion,
their doubts, and their fears. And then, he breaks open
for them the stories that shaped their lives of faith.
Something begins to stir within them and as they
reach their destination, they urge Jesus, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
This story captures a spirituality of accompaniment
that is so essential for servant leaders. Fr. Tom attuned
the ear of his heart in his many years as a hospital
chaplain in Chicago. He listened to the anxieties and
fears of patients facing life-threatening health issues,
and the sighs and cries of relatives and friends whose
loved ones’ lives hung in the balance. He ministered