Jesus wants us, our lives, to be consecrated in truth, that is God’s word. It is easy to get sucked into office gossip, politics, or trivial conflicts and it can drown out his voice. To remain in truth, we must make prayer a continuous part of our lives, especially at work. He has already given us the gift of consecrating us in truth. We just have to open it.
Welcome to the seventh episode of By Your Life. Thank you for joining me. If you haven’t already, / please subscribe at the bottom of the page so I can send you notifications when each new episode is posted.
My goal is to inspire, empower, support, challenge, and encourage you to connect Sunday, with Monday-Friday, in a secular, business world. It is my desire to help you live your Catholic faith in the marketplace and to trust that it is good for business. I hope to offer you practical ways to go forth and glorify the Lord by your life.
In this edition, we will reflect on the readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter and the application to your work life.
In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter recognized that they needed to fill the vacancy created by Judas Iscariot, that the scripture be fulfilled, and another would take his office. So, they decided on the necessary qualifications and came up with a slate of candidates.
In business, we follow a similar process when we need to fill a vacancy. We create a job posting that describes what the job is and lists the required and desired qualifications of ideal candidates. Then, we post the job, get a list of interested candidates who are screened to make sure they have the required qualifications. Then, we interview them and offer the job to the best one.
But this isn’t what the apostles did. Once they had their two final candidates, they took the decision to God in prayer.
“You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this apostolic ministry…” Acts 1:24-25
How often do you turn to God in prayer when making decisions at work? How about your personal life? More importantly, do you wait for God to answer and how do you know it is him and not the evil one? The only way is through discernment.
In his Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate, or Rejoice and Be Glad, Pope Francis encourages us to ask God for the gift of discernment.
Discernment, he says, “calls for something more than intelligence or common sense. It is a gift which we must implore. If we ask with confidence that the Holy Spirit grant us this gift, and then seek to develop it through prayer, reflection, reading, and good counsel, then surely we will grow in this spiritual endowment.”
Discernment calls for something more than intelligence or common sense. It is a gift we must implore. ~ Pope Francis @PontifexPope Francis continues, “Discernment is necessary not only at extraordinary times when we need to resolve grave problems and make crucial decisions. We need it at all times, to help us recognize God’s timetable, lest we fail to heed the promptings of his grace and disregard his invitation to grow.”
“We should always remember that discernment is a grace. Even though it includes reason and prudence, it goes beyond them, … It has to do with the meaning of my life before the Father who knows and loves me, with the real purpose of my life, which nobody knows better than he.”
The Lord speaks to us all the time. Ask him for the patience to wait for his answer and ask for the grace to recognize his voice.
In the second reading and the reading from the Gospel of John, we experience the concept of “spaced repetition.” Marketers and advertisers use this tactic. That is, when you repeat the message many times over the course of several days, the target audience is more likely to remember it. So, in the spirit of spaced repetition, we hear the same messages again this week because spaced repetition is effective, and this message is very important. Will you allow it to be effective in your life this week?
“God so loved us, we also must love one another… If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.” 1 John 4:11-12
Last week, I encouraged you to seek out opportunities to live this in your life. What were your wins? Did you reflect each day on how well you did and ponder in your heart what you should start doing, stop doing, or continue doing to live in God’s love and to love others more completely? Take time to do so now—that is to reflect on this past week. How well did you do? How did God bless you? How were you a blessing to others?
“God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.” 1 John 4:16
In John’s Gospel, John 17:11-19, Jesus prays a beautiful prayer to his Father for us. It is worth repeating in full and pondering each statement. On the night before he died, he prayed:
Let’s take this prayer, this blessing, and break it apart.
“So that they may be one just as we are one.” John 17:11
The Lord wants us to be united with one another—to be one. A few weeks ago, on Divine Mercy Sunday, we heard about the fruits of this blessing. “The community of believers was of one heart and mind.” Acts 4:32 This unity gave them “great power” to bear witness to the resurrection and “great favor was accorded them all.” Acts 4:33
In our businesses, sharing common values and beliefs is powerful. Along with common vision and mission or what you are going to do, it is essential for long-term success that everyone shares core values or how you will do what you do.
“I speak in this world so that they may share my joy completely.” John 17:13
We heard this message of “sharing his joy completely” last week too. Jesus doesn’t want us to wait to be joyful until we are together with him in heaven. Everything he tells us is so that we may experience his joy now, in this world.
A joyful leader is a more effective leader. Don’t let the annoyances of this world, steal your joy. This is a constant struggle for me, but it is less of a struggle now because I’ve chosen to make a change.
A couple years ago, I participated in a women’s retreat. Throughout the weekend, we were showered with gifts or palanca, which are intended to help overcome resistance. One of these gifts was a placemat. Well, they weren’t exactly placemats. They were works of art with a scripture verse that were handmade with a prayer for each of us. The person making the placemat didn’t know who would receive it, but the Holy Spirit did.
One morning during the retreat, we were instructed to go into the dining room and take our place at any table where we felt the Spirit called us to sit, as long as there was a “placemat” in that spot. So, I decided to sit somewhere different than I usually sat. Another person came to join our table, so I moved over to let her in and there wasn’t a placemat at my new spot. So, I had to change tables. I ended up in the last available seat with a placemat. The placemats were turned upside-down and we were asked to wait until instructed to flip them over, so I did.
When I turned over the mat, I found a beautiful image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. And then, I read the scripture. It said, “May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, grant your a spirit of wisdom and insight to know him clearly.” Eph 1:17
My placemat had a typo, well, not a typo exactly because it was calligraphy, but it was wrong, ruined, ugly. I didn’t want that placemat! All around me, the other women were crying because the image and scripture on their placemats spoke directly into their hearts. They were overcome by the Holy Spirit and moved with joy. But not me. That typo stole my joy…rather, I allowed it to steal my joy. That experience convicted me, and it did exactly what it was supposed to do. That palanca was a lever to help me overcome an issue in my life. I recognized that my desire for things to be “right,” my need for perfection, gets in my way of experiencing joy. It brings me down, and in the end, it negatively affects my relationships too.
Since that day, I have made a conscious effort to not allow imperfections to steal my joy. I haven’t perfected this yet, but I am making progress—a lot of progress. We don’t always control the things that happen in our lives, but we have ultimate control over how we respond to them. Choose not to let life’s annoyances steal your joy!
We don’t control the things that happen in our lives, but we control over how we respond to them. Choose not to let life’s annoyances steal your joy!“I gave them your word, and the world hates them – because they do not belong to the world.” John 17:14
It isn’t hard to find examples of how living the Gospel is counter-cultural. We experience it every day. Have you ever had someone honk at you because you were being kind and slowed down to let another driver into the lane of traffic? Worse yet, have you had a boss or co-worker criticize you for choosing the honest, ethical or moral alternative?
I facilitate a seminar on ethics and core values. Recently, I challenged my class to consider how their non-response to a violation of ethics and values can be just as bad as the violation itself. I got a lot of pushback when I said, “When we are not a part of the solution, we are part of the problem.”
As a society, as a community, as an organization, as a workgroup, as a family – people in relationship with each other depend on each other not to be silent when we see something that is wrong around us – to tolerate, to coexist. Instead, we need each other to contribute in a positive way to our families, workgroups, organizations, communities, and society as a whole.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” And we become silent because we know the world will hate us if we speak up. But, if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Do the right thing, even if the world will hate you.
Do the right thing, even if the world will hate you.“I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but keep from the evil one.” John 17:15
The Holy Father addresses this in his letter Rejoice and Be Glad. He says, “We are frequently tempted to think that holiness is only for those who can withdraw from ordinary affairs to spend much time in prayer. That is not the case. We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves.
As business people, we find ourselves in the marketplace where the evil one lurks in every corner. The goal of maximizing profits puts money before God and others. Ego, not humility, leads to abuse of authority. Pride leads to a failure of acknowledging our mistakes. Sloth leads to mediocre being acceptable. Recent headlines tell you where lust will lead. Just pick a deadly sin and you’ll find the evil one there. He is ever-present in our businesses. Jesus knows this and so he prays for us. He also taught us to pray “deliver us from evil.” Don’t just retreat to pray, to battle the evil one, make prayer a constant part of your work life.
“They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.” John 17:14 and John 17:16
Twice he prays this, so pay attention. He does not want to take us out of the world, and yet, he doesn’t want us to belong to the world. Our lives in this world have an important purpose, but the ultimate goal is eternal life. Keeping that perspective makes this life so much easier.
I often say to myself, “In the scheme of eternity, how important is this?” 90% of the time, it isn’t that important, and I can let it go. For the 10% of the time when it is important, that eternal perspective is what guides me to a better decision.
Next time you face a dilemma, are irritated, or just need to decide where to go for lunch, ask yourself “In the scheme of eternity, how important is this?” and you’ll find the peace you need to make the right choice. Remember, be in the world but do not belong to the world.
The final, and perhaps most important message is Truth.
I could go on about the theological meaning of this passage, but because I’m not a theologian, I’ll not attempt to do so. However, I do want to consider what the meaning could be for our lives. To “consecrate” means to make or declare something sacred or to dedicate it formally to a divine purpose. Jesus wants us, our lives, to be sacred in the truth that is God’s word.
When you reflect on how you conduct yourself at work, would others describe it as sacred? Do you even consider that your work is sacred? Do you keep your sacred life and your work life separate? I know I did, and I sometimes still do.
In the chapter that follows this Gospel, in John 18:37, Jesus is before Pilate when he says “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
It is so easy to get sucked into the office gossip, politics, or trivial conflicts that surround us. It can drown out his voice. We must make a conscious effort to belong to the truth. If we are to remain in the truth, we have to make prayer a continuous part of our lives, especially at work. He has already given us the gift of consecrating us in truth. We just have to open it.
Let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us to fulfill our purpose in this world without belonging to the world.
May God bless you abundantly, so you can persevere each day to live in the truth and glorify him by your life. Amen
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Many thanks to Fr. Stan Fortuna for his musical gifts, especially the traditional and contemporary versions of Come Holy Ghost (Come Holy Spirit) that you hear in this podcast. You can find more from Fr. Stan at http://www.francescoproductions.com/ or on Facebook.
