Mass Readings Audio
https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/2021-06-13-usccb-daily-mass-readings
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time – June 13, 2021
Welcome to the one hundred and sixty-eighth 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 Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. (Year B) Two things stuck out to me in our readings from this Sunday. The first was in our second reading from St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. He wrote about being courageous and walking “by faith, not by sight.” He wrote “We are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord.” (2 Cor 5:6-8)
The second thing that stuck out to me was Jesus’ parables about seeds. Jesus said, “If a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.” (Mk 4:26-27) and he also shared the Parable of the Mustard Seed. (Mk 4:30-32) What do St. Paul’s message of being courageous and Jesus’ seed parables have to do with each other and what can we take away and apply to our lives in the marketplace?
The Little Yellow Idea that Grew
Have you heard of Spencer Ferguson Silver III? His is not exactly a household name, but his invention is, and if you’re an average professional, you use his product over ten times per day. You may have heard his name recently when he passed away on May 8, 2021. Spencer Silver is the inventor of the adhesive that is used to make Post-it® Notes.
Like many great inventions, what it became was not what was envisioned at the start. It was in 1968 that Silver was trying to create a strong adhesive that could be used for aircraft construction. He failed in that objective but ended up developing a “low-tack” adhesive whose grip was strong enough to hold papers together, but weak enough to allow the papers to be pulled apart again without being torn. The bonus was that it could be used again and again.
Despite the unique properties of this adhesive, he struggled for years to find a use for his invention. It wasn’t until six years later that Art Fry, a chemical engineer, attended an internal 3M seminar where Silver was promoting his adhesive’s properties. Fry, who spent his Wednesday nights practicing with his church choir, saw it as a potential solution to a practical challenge, that was preventing paper bookmarks from falling out of his hymnal. So, he partnered with Silver to develop a product. When they began writing messages on their new notes to communicate around the office, they realized the potential was far greater than sticky bookmarks.
Today, there are more than 1,000 Post-it® products sold in many standard sizes, shapes and colors in more than 150 countries. The little sticky-note idea has even gone digital with its own app that uses handwriting recognition to transcribe notes so teams can instantly capture and share ideas after a brainstorm. I’m sure that in 1974, Spencer Silver and Art Fry had no idea how big their little yellow note would become.
Mirrors for Man
I bring up the history of the Post-it® Note because in our Gospel, Jesus uses the example of something else that is little and yellow with potential beyond comprehension. He likens the kingdom of God to a mustard seed saying, “when it is sown in the ground, [it] is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth, But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade. (Mk 4:31-32)
In 1974, when Spencer Silver and Art Fry looked at their little yellow sticky note, they couldn’t see the thousands of applications or the hundreds of millions of people who would one day be using their product. They walked by faith, not by sight—faith that Spencer Silver kept burning for six years before anyone paid any attention to him. And, the phenomenal growth of the Post-it® brand wasn’t their doing either. They just got the idea started, just as the man scatters seed on the land. He knows not how it grows, but he knows that it will.
The Catechism teaches us that “the parables are like mirrors for man; will he be hard soil or good earth for the word? What has he made of the talents he has received? (CCC 546)
The Parable of the Seeds and the Parable of the Mustard Seed hold up a mirror to us. Do we discard the small as unimportant because we can’t see what it might become? Do we think we have to do everything ourselves and don’t have the confidence? Do we get overwhelmed by the potential for failure that we don’t even get started?
10 Seconds of Courage
And this is where being courageous comes in. The root of the word courage is “cor” – the Latin word for heart. In one of its earliest forms, the word courage meant “To speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart.” Over time, this definition has changed, and today, Merriam-Webster defines courage as the “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.”
Nadine Champion, an Australian kickboxing champion, author of “10 Seconds of Courage” shared her insights of being courageous in her presentation at TEDx Sydney. Most of us won’t face competition that wants to kick us in the teeth, but her advice is still universal. She said, “Before you get out there and face your opponent, your opponent becomes you. That is when you need to turn down volume on fear and doubt and turn up the volume on strength and all it takes is 10 seconds of courage.”
At work, we need to summon up 10 seconds of courage all the time. It takes courage to change direction on a project. It takes courage to make a quick decision. It takes courage to pitch an innovative idea or suggest changes to a process. It takes courage to speak up when you disagree with everyone in a meeting. It takes courage to speak in front of an audience. It takes courage to admit that you were wrong. It takes courage to share your faith with others.
You just need ten seconds of courage to get started. You may not have faced this particular challenge before, but walk by faith knowing that all your education, training, practice, and experience will get you through, if you are courageous for just 10 seconds.
What’s More Important?
Nadine Champion said, “The only thing that you can ever control in response to a hard situation, is your reaction—your thinking.” Too often, we focus on the worst thing that can happen and we are conquered by fear. Change your thinking and focus on the best thing that can happen and walk by faith.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt put it this way: “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.” Your heart, your passion, your beliefs are the mustard seeds of courage. Walking by faith is living courageously knowing that something else is more important than that which you fear.
Spencer Silver persevered promoting his adhesive invention for over six years before a practical application was found. Nadine Champion had the mental strength to venture into the ring knowing she was going to get popped and it was going to hurt. St. Paul had the moral strength to keep preaching the Gospel and encouraging others to do the same when he and other Christians were being persecuted. He wrote, “Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord.” (2 Cor 5:8), because he knew something else was more important than that which he feared.
Take Action
To become our best selves, we all need to be courageous. Those 10 seconds of courage are like the man who sews the seed. He doesn’t know how the seed will grow, but he knows it will. Living a courageous life means you take action even when you don’t know what will happen next because you know that something else is more important and it will never happen if you don’t take action.
When do you think “I wish I had the courage to do that.”? What is it that your heart desires, but your fear holds back? It just takes 10 seconds of courage to move past the fear. We were made to be courageous. Let’s ask God to help us.
Lord Jesus, you were courageous and did not worry about what those who hated you would do to you. You only met them with love and with courage. Jesus, we ask you to help us develop the same courage to overcome the many situations in our lives where we are afraid, including our relationships, our jobs, our families, and personal projects. Help us be assertive in our decisions. May we say what we need to say and do what we need to do without worrying that we will be judged or punished for it. Lord, we pray that you bless us with the courage to do what is right in your eyes. May we never shake in the face of temptation, but instead, stand firm in your word. Walk with us Lord for we cannot do it without you.
May God bless you abundantly with courage this week and may you glorify the Lord by your life.
If you liked this episode, spread the word. You know what to do, forward, share, or click to post. Also, check out the Resources page where you can find a link to the books and other resources mentioned in other episodes of By Your Life. I’m always interested in what you think, so give me some feedback by leaving a comment.
