Mass Readings Audio
https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/2021-08-22-usccb-daily-mass-readings
Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time – August 22, 2021
Welcome to the one hundred and seventy-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.
What Do You Choose?
In this edition, we’ll reflect on the readings for the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time. (Year B) In this Sunday’s readings, the first reading from the Book of Joshua prefigures the choice that we have to make and are again presented within John’s Gospel. The choice is to serve the Lord, to follow Jesus, or return to our former ways.
The “right” choice is obvious. We should choose to serve the Lord. We should choose Christ. If you are reading this, it is likely that you, like me, have made the choice to follow Jesus. But is this a one-time, absolute, uncompromised choice? Or are we wishy-washy and choose to follow him sometimes and our own way at other times when what he says is hard to accept?
Pride Picks and Chooses
When we hear the words of the second reading from Letter from St. Paul to the Ephesians that we must be subordinate to our husbands in everything, or give up our lives for our wives, do we reject “that” part of scripture? St. Augustine said, “If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”
I have pondered this scripture because it is hard. How can I accept it? Taking this statement literally and out of context with the rest of St. Paul’s letter and out of context of Christ’s teachings as a whole is a recipe for hard feelings and misunderstandings. I don’t think St. Paul was trying to start the battle of the sexes with this instruction, but if it is the inspired Word of God, we must consider it as Truth. If we decide that we get to pick and choose what part of God’s Word is truth, then we are grasping at divinity for ourselves, and that is pride. Or as Bishop Barron said, “Arrogating to oneself the unique prerogative of God is pride.” Pride keeps us from God. It also affects our relationships with others.
Mutually Giving Relationships
If we assume that St. Paul is not encouraging dominance of one over another, for they are “one flesh,” (Eph 5:31) we have to seek a deeper meaning. When we do, we can realize the context and see that it is husbands who must love their wives, “even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her.” (Eph 5:25) We all know what Christ did for the Church. He gave up his life. He sacrificed himself, so she might live. So, the husbands have the tougher assignment and when a wife is subordinate to someone who gives up his life for her, you have a mutually giving and loving relationship, one for the other.
In the workplace, bosses and employees (of either gender) should take note of St. Paul’s instruction to the husbands and wives. Great leaders understand that they are there to serve, not to be served. Those in positions of authority who dominate their employees are not as successful as excellent leaders who are more interested in helping their employees succeed. They work hard for the benefit of their team.
Employees, like bosses, need to recognize it is not about them either. That is, workers who recognize they are there to give the best they have to serve their customers are the ones who earn trust and therefore are entrusted to do more, are given more opportunities to grow and develop and succeed. It is a two-way, mutually beneficial serving that leads to success in an organization. But when it is missing, when people (bosses and employees alike) act in their own self-interest, trust is eroded. In The SPEED of TRUST: The One Thing that Changes Everything, Stephen Covey refers to this as “Intent” and it is one of the Four Cores of Credibility. When people believe that you are acting in their best interest, they will be more willing to trust you.
Pride Destroys Trust
However, when putting one’s own desires, wants, and whims before the welfare of other people evolve into corrupt selfishness, it is known as hubris or pride. Pride is an irrational belief that one is essentially better, superior, or more important than others.
Pride is the underlying issue. It is the main obstacle we face. It is the first sin. Pride is at the center of the human dilemma. In the first reading and in the Gospel, the people have a choice. Jesus asks the twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” (Jn 6:67) Today, we have that same choice. Do we stay or do we leave? Like Peter, do we acknowledge that Jesus has “the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68) and is “the Holy One of God,” (Jn 6:69) or do we go back to our former way of life and no longer accompany Him?
Again, the “right” choice is obvious. We should choose to serve the Lord. But what keeps us from making that choice? Pride!
St. Thomas Aquinas said, “What God’s son has told me, take for truth, I do; Truth himself speaks truly or there’s nothing true.” If we reject this and think that we get to pick and choose what part of God’s Word is truth, then we are grasping at divinity for ourselves, and that is pride.
Pride, that sense that we are better, more knowledgeable, or more important than others, will get in our way at work. It prevents us from accepting honest feedback. It blocks us from accepting new information that is contrary to what we believe to be true. It leads us to make excuses instead of accepting responsibility. It limits our ability to cooperate and collaborate with others. It affects our trustworthiness. In the end, it is neither helpful to us nor does it benefit our businesses.
Antidote to Pride
The remedy for pride is humility. Humility is not self-deprecation, rather it allows us to honestly see our limitations so that we can surround ourselves with people with complementary talents. More importantly, it helps us appreciate others, listen to them, and develop winning relationships. Our success depends on it. It is the only way we can learn from our mistakes and accept that there may be something new to learn, a better way to do things, or simply accept that we were wrong.
Which brings me back to our Gospel on Sunday. Jesus’ disciples walked away when what he was saying was too hard to accept. If we’re honest, we’ve all been there at one time or another. We’ve all been part of the “some [of you] who do not believe” (Jn 6:64) who “no longer accompanied him.” (Jn 6:66)
But it didn’t have to end there for his first disciples, and it doesn’t have to end there for us either. Jesus said, “What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?” (Jn 6:62) If they had a hard time believing him when he said “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” (Jn 6:51), perhaps they would believe when they saw him ascend to heaven. Perhaps they did have a change of heart.
Thank God for them and for us that we have the chance for a change of heart. Thank God for the ability to accept new information and let go of old beliefs that are holding us back. Thank God for the gift of humility to combat the sin of pride. Let’s remember this when we need to grant others the chance for a change of heart. Let’s ask God to help us.
Heavenly Father, We have come to believe and are convinced that Jesus Christ is your Son, the Holy One of God. Yet in our sinful nature, we allow our pride to get in the way of living according to his Word. Strengthen us when it is hard, and we are tempted to leave you. Grant us the grace to return to you, and not our former way of life, and help others to do the same. So that, in everything we do, we also will serve you, LORD, for you are our God.
May God bless you abundantly and may you glorify the Lord by your life.
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