Mass Readings Audio
https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/2021-02-21-usccb-daily-mass-readings
First Sunday of Lent – February 21, 2021
Welcome to the one hundred and fifty-second episode of By Your Life. I’m Lisa Huetteman and I know that you have a hundred different things you could be doing right now, so I thank you for choosing 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 First Sunday of Lent. (Year B) Mark’s Gospel about the temptation of Christ is only two verses long. Unlike Luke’s Gospel that dedicates 13 verses, Mark offers a kind of “CliffsNotes®” version of this event of Jesus’ life. If you’ve never used CliffsNotes, they are a series of study guides that create literary and other works in pamphlet form or online. Detractors claim they let students bypass reading the assigned literature. I admit I was one of those students who got by with the CliffsNotes and skipping the required reading. But the CliffsNotes publishers state, “A thorough appreciation of literature allows no shortcuts.”, and they are right. Using CliffsNotes as a shortcut left me without a thorough appreciation of the classics we were assigned.
Taking Short Cuts
When I think of shortcuts, I think of Rosie Ruiz. Some of you may not be old enough to remember the woman who was declared the winner in the female category for the 84th Boston Marathon in 1980, only to have her title stripped eight days after the race when it was discovered that she had not run the entire course. She is believed to have jumped onto the course about a half-mile before the finish. Come to find out, she had taken a similar shortcut for the New York City marathon finishing as the 11th woman overall which qualified her for the race in Boston.
What was she thinking? Did she think she’d have a feeling of achievement by claiming to finish a marathon? Having run two marathons in my life, I can tell you there is an incredible sense of accomplishment when you cross that finish line. But it is an accomplishment that didn’t begin 26.2 miles earlier, rather it commenced months before. Getting out of bed early in the morning 6 days a week to put in the miles of training that enables you to finish the race is truly the greatest part of the accomplishment. But Rosie didn’t get to share that.
Did she think she wouldn’t get caught? Perhaps, an acquaintance said that she admitted to him a few months after the race that she had cheated, recalling that “she jumped out of the crowd, not knowing that the first woman hadn’t gone by yet. Believe me, she was as shocked as anyone when she came in first.” Even if she didn’t get caught, she’d have always known she was a fake.
Did she just want her moment of fame? Perhaps. But she discovered that there are no shortcuts to fame, only infamy. Sadly, Rosie Ruiz died of cancer in 2019 and the NY Times took note of the event with the headline that read, Rosie Ruiz, Who Faked Victory in Boston Marathon, Dies at 66.
Whatever motivated her, Rosie Ruiz was misguided. But what does she have to do with our readings this Sunday and the temptation of Jesus? Henri Nouwen wrote of the temptations as revealed in Matthew or Luke saying, “The temptations were meant to divert Our Lord from his task of salvation through sacrifice. Instead of the Cross as a means of winning the souls of men, Satan suggested three shortcuts to popularity: an economic one, another based on marvels, and a third, which was political. Very few people believe in the devil these days, which suits the devil very well. He is always helping to circulate the news of his own death.”
Very few people believe in the devil these days, which suits the devil very well. He is always helping to circulate the news of his own death. ~ Henri NouwenMissing the Point
I suppose you could say that Rosie Ruiz, like Jesus, was tempted by the devil to take shortcuts. But unlike Jesus, she followed Satan’s suggestion. But let’s not just be critical of Rosie Ruiz without looking in the mirror. We’ve all been guilty of following Satan’s suggestion, of lying, cheating, or misrepresenting ourselves as something we aren’t. More subtly, we are guilty of trying to take shortcuts to achieve some goal, and in doing so, missed the point of the exercise, just as I did when I skipped reading my English literature assignment.
I find this to be true with my clients when I assign them “homework.” Those who take shortcuts have no appreciation of the process but those who do the difficult inner work that is asked of them get real results. That is because my clients are seeking a transformation of some type and there are no shortcuts to transformation. Transformation is a continuous process, a daily struggle, a life-long commitment to be better today than you were yesterday and better tomorrow than you are today. It requires an inner conversion, a change in attitudes and beliefs that drive behaviors. And for this, there is no shortcut.
Sometimes we’re too busy with being who and what we are to invest time in becoming who and what we’re meant to be. But this is exactly why it is essential for leaders to take time away at retreats to reflect and re-envision the life of the business. But having a retreat, for the sake of a retreat, is a waste of time and money. I had one prospective client call to ask if I would facilitate a strategic planning retreat. I asked why they wanted to have a retreat and was told that it had been about three years since the last one. But when I asked what they did as a result of their last retreat, I was told nothing much. So why, I asked, do you want to do that again?
When we’re too busy with being who and what we are we fail to become who and what we’re meant to be.The same is true for us as we begin this Lenten season. It’s been about a year since we gave up coffee, or chocolate, or Coke, and the Church is suggesting that it is time to do it again. But let’s not miss the point. We don’t fast to show that we can dominate our cravings by exercising our own will. Bishop Barron said that “we fast to discipline our natural desires so that the deeper hungers of our heart and soul can emerge.” Instead of thirsting for a beer or Coke or cup of coffee, “we should be thirsting for a right relationship with God. The deeper hungers don’t arise when our basic human desires are too dominant. Let’s not come to the end of lent and say, not much changed.” If we do, we’ve missed the point.
William Wilberforce, the British politician and abolitionist, said, “There is no shortcut to holiness; it must be the business of our whole lives.” The pursuit of holiness must be the business of our whole lives including our lives at work. What can we do this Lent to develop holiness at work? Let’s begin with the three pillars of Catholic Lenten practices, Prayer, Fasting, and Alms Giving.
Prayer
In Lent, we take the time to cultivate our relationship with the Lord. Our prayer time with God should allow us to get to know him better. It shouldn’t be just a time of dictating instructions, “God will you please do this for me, and God will you please do that for me?” but listening to God’s response and looking for what he reveals about himself to us. Perhaps there is a person at work with whom you need to invest time to develop a better relationship. Spend time with that person listening to them and allowing them to reveal who they are.
Fasting
If our practice of fasting is intended to allow a deeper hunger to emerge, so too can fasting from sarcasm, unkind words, or negative remarks allow a deeper truth to come out. If there is a person at work with whom you find yourself reacting with cynicism or disdain, contemplate the underlying issue that lies within you that causes you to react this way. Then, fast from sarcasm and respond with respect.
Giving Alms
Our practice of giving alms is a concrete way to express love for others. It allows us to show solidarity for those in need. But it doesn’t just mean giving money. At work, if there is a person who is new and needs your help, remember when you were the new person, and someone offered to show you the way. If there is a person who you know is struggling, offer to help. If there is a person who behaves badly, find out what’s bothering them. Show kindness. You can’t just do these things once and expect a transformation. There is no shortcut which is why we allocate forty days to the season of Lent. Practice these pillars of Lenten sacrifice every day for forty days and you’ll likely create a new habit, a habit that is founded on love.
Salvation through Sacrifice
Daniel Pink, the author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, wrote, “The problem with making an extrinsic reward the only destination that matters is that some people will choose the quickest route there, even if it means taking the low road. Indeed, most of the scandals and misbehavior that have seemed endemic to modern life involve shortcuts.”
The devil offered Jesus extrinsic rewards, pleasure, power, fame as if these were the purpose of his incarnation, the only destination that mattered. But they weren’t. He came for the purpose of saving our souls and reuniting us with God. For that, there was no shortcut, only the Cross and salvation through sacrifice.
Let’s pray. Father in Heaven, you have given the human race Jesus Christ our Savior as a model of humility. He fulfilled your will by becoming man and enduring human trials and temptations. Help us to see, in our ordinary difficulties and duties, in the trials and temptations of every day, the best opportunity to follow his example. Bless our efforts this Lent so that when tempted to take shortcuts, we may persevere to true transformation of heart and soul, so that in everything we do, we may glorify you by our lives.
May God bless you abundantly this week as you glorify the Lord by your life.
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