Mass Readings Audio
https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/2021-10-17-usccb-daily-mass-readings
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time – October 17, 2021
Welcome to the one hundred and eighty-sixth episode of By Your Life. Thank you for joining me. 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. If you haven’t already, please subscribe via your favorite podcast app, or on the right side of the page so I can send you notifications when each new episode is posted. And please forward to a friend you think 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 is my desire to help you live our 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 Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time. As is usually the case, there is a common theme in the readings. The first reading from the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, the second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, and the Gospel according to St. Mark all remind us that suffering is a part of life and often the path to our success.
No Pains No Gains
When I was a kid, I took piano lessons. I loved to listen to people playing the piano and I wanted to be one of them. But I hated practicing. I never got the hang of reading music, so I struggled through it. After four years, I quit.
My father-in-law, on the other hand, studied piano, then taught it, and performed his entire life, until he retired. He plays beautifully, as any professional would. Once he retired, he stopped playing. I often ask him, “Why don’t you just play for fun?” He usually responds, “That’s work. It’s not fun.”
The difference between my father-in-law and me, in addition to the sound we make when we sit at the keyboard, is that he suffered to play beautiful music. I didn’t. I quit. 17th-century poet, Robert Herrick authored a short poem entitled, “No Pains, No Gains” in which he wrote, “If little labour, little are our gains; Man’s fortunes are according to his pains.” How true this is.
“If little labour, little are our gains; Man’s fortunes are according to his pains.” ~ Robert HerrickSuffering for Self
I can’t think of one story of success where there wasn’t a lot of hard work that went before it. Think of actors who waited tables while going to audition after audition, or athletes who were up at 4:00 am throughout their youth to hit the gym or the pool before school, or, entrepreneurs who poured their heart and soul, long hours, and every dime to their name into the start-up of their businesses. Why do they do it? How do they persevere?
They must have a dream and the passion to pursue it.
Merriam-Webster defines passion as an intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction, a deep emotion of either anger or love. What is interesting is that Merriam-Webster says an obsolete definition is suffering. For Christians, that definition is not obsolete, it is how we define Jesus’ suffering from the Garden of Gethsemane to his death on the Cross. The word passion – from the Latin word “pati” means to suffer. And anyone who has ever followed their “passion” has certainly suffered along the way.
Sacrificing for Others
The message of this Sunday’s readings is much more important than just working hard and persevering through the tough times. It is about self-sacrifice for the good of others. A lot of people work hard for their own benefit. Jesus is calling us to something greater than that. In fact, he is calling us to something radically different than that. He tells us, “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant.” (Mk 10:43)
“Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant.” (Mk 10:43)Corporate Social Responsibility
This concept is a challenge in our capitalistic society, but this is changing. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has grown in importance in recent years as consumers have become more conscious of issues impacting the environment, people, and society as a whole. According to an article in Harvard Business Review Online, this increased consumer awareness has led to businesses embracing corporate social responsibility practices. Whereas only 20 percent of companies on the S&P 500 index published a CSR report in 2011, an estimated 90 percent did so in 2019.
Businesses large and small that incorporate the benefit of the greater good into their business models are very successful, both financially and ethically. Some practices are blended into the core of their operations through sourcing Fair Trade Certified ingredients, supporting sustainable farming, and adopting “green” manufacturing and packaging. Others embrace social responsibility through philanthropy, promoting volunteerism, and concern for the environment.
There are also companies that are known for their ethical practices related to their employees including such things as offering fair wages regardless of minimum legal requirements, to hiring ex-convicts, to programs that support families. These kinds of initiatives often don’t get the headlines they deserve, which is too bad because they can be an example for others to follow. Leaders of these companies do not use people as tools to serve their companies, rather, they view their companies as tools to serve their people. As Jesus said to his disciples, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” (Mk 10:42-44) The end goal for these companies is not to simply maximize profits, but positively impact the environment, people, and society, recognizing that it is the way to true and lasting success.
Personal Social Responsibility
We each have a personal responsibility to positively impact the environment, people, and society by how we live our lives. I have to admit that sometimes I’m good and sometimes I’m not so good at fulfilling that responsibility. I met a friend early one morning last week to walk. We meet at a park at 0-dark-thirty and do a 4-mile loop coming back to where we started. As I drove into the parking lot, I saw that there was trash all over the ground. I wondered who would be so inconsiderate to just dump their trash. But then again, it could have been some animal who was looking for scraps in the trash bin that left a mess behind. I pulled into my parking space, greeted my friend, and took off walking.
When we made our way back, we stood in the lot for 10-15 minutes, and as we were talking a man walked up and started picking up the trash. I hollered over to him, “Thank you for doing that. You are a better person than I am. I saw all that trash on the ground, but I didn’t do anything about it. Be blessed today.” That man had a positive impact on the environment that day, something that I failed to do. I can only hope that my comment had a positive impact on him.
At work, we each have a personal responsibility to have a positive impact on each other. It isn’t the company’s responsibility to care about people. It is the people’s responsibility to care about people. This can be hard when we are stressed, when we are tired, when we are annoyed, or in a hurry and most work environments have their fair share of stress, overwork, annoyances, and deadlines so treating people with kindness isn’t always a priority, but it should be. The Psalmist sang, May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us. (Ps 33:22) We all want kindness from God and from others, especially when we mess up. It is our responsibility to show that kindness in return.
Salvific Suffering
One last thought… In the Gospel, when James and John ask Jesus for places of prominence when he comes into his glory, Jesus responds, “You do not know what you are asking.” (Mk 10:38) We too don’t understand what we are asking when we make a request of the Lord. Often our prayers are not answered in the way we expect, rather in the way we need them to be answered. You, like me, may know that the greatest gift God has given you is the personal growth that has come through suffering. Let us be open to accept it, knowing that God is there to see us through.
Let’s pray. Holy Spirit, grant us the grace of mercy so we may not only see others in need but respond with kindness. Help us to take personal responsibility for our world and each other and not wait for someone else to do it. Grant us the grace to suffer for the benefit of others and the timely help we will need to follow through, so that in all that we do, we may glorify you. Amen
May God bless you abundantly this week as you suffer through your daily trials and may you glorify the Lord by your life. Amen
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