If you want to grow personally, if you want your team, your department, your company to grow, you have to be open to letting go of the old to make way for the new. This is harder than it sounds when it means confronting our egos and our strongly held beliefs. In this episode of By Your Life, we’ll challenge you to be open to the struggle that is growth.

Mass Readings Audio
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2019/19_05_05.mp3

Third Sunday of Easter – May 5, 2019

Happy Easter again and welcome to the fifty-eighth episode of By Your Life. Thank you for joining me. If you haven’t already, please sign up for notifications on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, wherever you listen, or on the right side of the page so I can let you know when each new episode is posted. And please forward to a friend, if you think they would benefit from By Your Life.

My goal is to inspire, empower, support, challenge, and encourage you to connect Sunday, with Monday-Friday, in a secular, business world. It’s my desire to help you live our Catholic faith in the marketplace. I hope to offer you practical ways to go forth and glorify the Lord by your life.

In this edition, we’ll reflect on the readings for the Third Sunday of Easter. The other day, my nephew posted a meme on Facebook that said, “You are under no obligation to be the same person you were a year, month, or even 15 minutes ago. You have the right to grow. No apologies.” It is a quote from the British-American philosopher Alan Watts.  What does this have to do with Sunday’s readings? Stay with me for a minute and I’ll get back to this.

There certainly was a change in the apostles between the somewhat lost and searching, post-Resurrection men we heard about in John’s Gospel, and the bold and courageous, post-Pentecost apostles we heard about in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. I don’t know about you, but this certainly is reflective of my spiritual life. The only difference is that for me, the process seems to be circular. I go from being totally lost, to totally filled with the Holy Spirit, to being distracted by real-life concerns like what to have for dinner, to being on fire with awe and love of the Lord.

Are you inspired by the Word and Sacrament at Mass on Sunday only to become preoccupied with the problems you face at work on Monday? It is totally human, and we see the apostles were no less human. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, he appeared to Peter and the others twice in the room where they were gathered. They knew he was alive and were overjoyed. Yet, in Sunday’s Gospel, we hear that Peter said “I am going fishing.” (Jn 21:3) and the others decided to go with him. It sounded as if returning to their old way of life was all they could figure out do on their own. And, on their own, they didn’t have much success. They fished all night and caught nothing.

This Gospel reminds me of myself when I try to do things on my own and then turn to God when I’ve exhausted my own capability. It also reminds me of a lot of the business people I’ve interviewed over the past 10 years, including Mark Carr, CEO of Christian Brothers Automotive. (You can read my article in TwoTen Magazine here.) His too is a story of trying it on your own and then giving it up to God. It is an amazing journey of a man who barely made it out of high school, then worked as a bartender, toilet cleaner, ditch digger, and did just about everything known to man in terms of lousy work. Eventually, he started Christian Brothers Automotive with a friend but was too afraid to work in his new business full time, so he kept a full-time job but was not doing well financially. He said, “I had two kids and I couldn’t make enough to provide for my family. I was about to lose my house. I had two cars in the garage that were worth less than I owed on them and I couldn’t even afford a Happy Meal for my son.”

Mark’s grandfather, a man he admired and respected, gave him valuable advice. He said, “God gave you that business. Why don’t you just go run it?” Mark had a hundred reasons but the biggest was fear of failure. He said, “I felt like it was my last straw. If I went over there and I failed, I would be finished.”

Fear of failure often keeps us from moving forward. I’m sure that Simon Peter and the apostles felt dejected after fishing all night and not catching anything. On their own, they were failures. But they listened to the urging of the Lord, (even though they didn’t recognize that it was him) and cast their net in a new direction. Through God’s power, their nets were filled and they “were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.” (Jn 21:6)

Mark Carr’s faith yielded similar results. He listened to his grandfather, quit his job and went to work in the business full time. At first, there wasn’t a place for him at the automotive shop because his partner was running the place. Mark essentially had to demote his partner to work in the shop as a mechanic while he worked up front. Within 90 days, the business increased thirty percent. Mark will tell you that it was all God’s work because he really hadn’t been there long enough to make a difference. It didn’t take long before they were so busy that Mark brought the mechanic back inside to be the service manager. He and Mark were still working together 30 years later.

What about you? Are you the same person you were before you encountered the Lord? Have you gone back to your old way of life like the pre-Pentecost apostles in fear of failure? Or worse, do you let your prior failures keep holding you back?

Maybe that’s where Peter’s mindset was and why he went fishing. He had been weak and denied the Lord. But in today’s Gospel, we see that Peter is not the same person he was that night. I’m sure he spent many hours since that dark night reliving his words and wishing he could take them back. It is no wonder scholars are quick to compare the triple denial to the triple affirmation of love that Peter professed in today’s Gospel. Three times, Jesus asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me…?” (Jn 21:15) and three times Simon Peter answered him, “you know that I love you.” (Jn 21:15, 16, 17) Each time Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” (Jn 21:15) “Tend my sheep.” (Jn 21:16) “Feed my sheep.” (Jn 21:17)

I always say, that if it is important, God tells me twice. Well, this must be super important because not once, not twice, but three times, Jesus tells us it is not enough to just proclaim your love for him, you must show that love for others.

And this is what Mark Carr has done through his Christian Brothers Automotive business. He leveraged the first store to start the second, and then a third, and before he knew it, he had started a franchise by replicating a model of success. That success model was built on Christ’s principle of loving one another.

Mark said he made a list of 20 things people hate about getting their car fixed and determined how to solve every one of those problems. He looked at service from the customer’s perspective and treated them the way he would want to be treated.

This principle was extended to the franchisees as well and is reflected in a unique partnership model with the franchise owners. Typical franchise agreements require the franchisee to pay a royalty off the top, as a percent of sales, before all other expenses are paid. In the Christian Brothers model, the franchisee pays them last. When a customer comes in and is served, the team is paid first, then the rent, utilities, suppliers and modest salary plus health insurance for the franchisee and his/her family. When a profit is left, it is split 50/50. The model means that they are truly in the trenches with their franchisee and support their success. They recognize they have wonderful families who are investing their life savings in a business called Christian Brothers Automotive. They treat them how they would want to be treated.

Christian Brothers Automotive also breaks the mold of automotive repair businesses by being closed on weekends so their employees can spend time with their families.  Mark explained. “We value family and it is important to support our employees. We do whatever we can by offering our customers rides to and from work so that we limit the inconvenience of being closed on weekends. Our customers understand these values which are why the business has been successful despite limiting hours of operation to Monday through Friday.”

You might be thinking, that’s fine for them, but this wouldn’t work for us. These practices are counter-cultural. These practices are counter-intuitive. These practices are counter to common business sense. Yet, these practices have made Christian Brothers Automotive a success. Being closed on Sunday is a bold act of trust in God and reflects the example of Peter and the apostles when they said, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). With the pressure of a secular culture dominating our work environments, it requires boldness to practice our faith in our work lives. Who do you trust? Who do you honor? Who do you glorify by your life?

If you’re struggling with what I’m saying, let’s take a minute to go back to the first reading. This passage from the Acts of the Apostles was also the first reading last Thursday. In his homily, Fr. Tapp compared how the Sanhedrin responded to Peter and the apostles teaching in the temple area to us in response to the teaching of the Church. You know, when the Church has an authoritative teaching on life, marriage, the environment, immigration, the economy, or whatever, we tend to like those teachings we agree with and don’t like those we disagree with. The Sanhedrin certainly didn’t like what Peter and the apostles were teaching. They couldn’t accept the Truth that Jesus was the Messiah. They would have to give up their preconceived beliefs and that would be a blow to their egos to admit they were wrong. So, they attacked the messengers.

The same thing happens today.  Our priests and bishops get all kinds of feedback from the flock when they speak up about issues. The feedback runs the gamut from “It’s about time the Church taught about this.” to “The Church is wrong to take a position on personal/political/you-name-it issues.” The difference in the commentary depends on whether the people agree with the teaching. If we agree, we love it. If we disagree, we are quick to voice a complaint or criticism.

But, Fr. Tapp also spoke about a different type of feedback he gets and that is from the person who says, “Father, I’m really struggling with the Church’s teaching on this.” That is a person who is open to growing. Fr. Tapp encouraged us to be that person. We need to pay attention when we struggle with what the Church teaches. It may be God calling us to change, to become more like Christ. To this person, Fr. Tapp will say, “If you are struggling with this teaching of the Church, think about who or what is your god.” If somehow you think you’ve got all the right answers and the Church has it all wrong, perhaps your god is your ego. When you struggle with the authority of the Church, in actuality you are struggling with the authority of Christ who is the Head. How do you answer Jesus when he asks you, (insert your name here) “do you love me more than these?“ (Jn 21:15) Do you love the Creator of the universe or one of his creations? If you want to grow, be honest with yourself, who or what is your god?

One final thought, and this relates to the second reading from the Book of Revelation. This vision of the heavenly banquet is better explained by theologians. So, for that, I’ll direct you to Bishop Barron’s homily for this Sunday which focuses totally on John’s apocalyptic writing in Sunday’s second reading. What I’d like to mention is related to the word apocalypse itself.

Again, our culture has hijacked the definition of a word. If you Google the definition of apocalypse, you’ll find “the complete final destruction of the world, as described in the biblical book of Revelation,” or “an event involving destruction or damage on an awesome or catastrophic scale.” These definitions come from the misappropriation of this genre of writing.

The truth is, “apocalypse” is a Greek word meaning “revelation,” or “an unveiling of things not previously known.” Listen closely, our second reading does not speak of destruction, rather, it speaks of “honor and glory and blessing.” Every single Mass, whether it is a high Mass celebrated at the Vatican by the pope with millions of people participating, or the quiet, 30-minute daily mass in the chapel of a small church in some small town, is a participation in this heavenly banquet. Our Lord is revealed to us in Word and Sacrament. How can we be the same as we were an hour before if we received Him?

So, Alan Watts was partially right when he said, “You have a right to grow.” With rights, come responsibilities. It is sad if you are the same person you were a year, month, week, or 15 minutes ago. You have an obligation to grow. To not be the same person you were a year, month, or even 15 minutes ago, you have to take responsibility for your growth. But, you cannot grow in the Truth, without knowing the Son, who is the perfect and complete revelation of God. It is only through knowing God, through giving him honor and glory and blessing, that we can come to trust him and obey him in all things.

It is a process, and sometimes it is a circular process. Transformations are a journey. Changing yourself, changing your company, changing your ministry, all happen in small steps. Overnight successes rarely happen overnight. If you, like me, struggle with this, that’s okay. Keep moving forward. Keep making progress. Don’t let past failures hold you back. As Nelson Mandela said, “I never lose. I either win or learn.”

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us grow one step at a time so that we can come to know Him more fully and become all that we were created to be.

May God bless you abundantly this Easter Season and may you glorify the Lord by your life. Amen.

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