“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  (Mark 12:30-31)

These are the words of Jesus in response to a scribe who asked what the most important commandment was.  Loving God and the people he puts in our lives with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength was his answer.  It is a consuming task.  It impacts every facet and moment of our lives.

In Old Testament times, the idols people worshiped included false gods and their images.  Today, our idols include entertainers, professional athletes, public officials, hobbies, careers, material things like cars, homes, jewelry, retirement accounts, etc. None of these are inherently wrong in themselves, but they can become idols if we make them so.

In the early years of our marriage and right after the Kansas City Chiefs had won Super Bowl IV, we were able to get season tickets as the Chiefs were moving from their old stadium into the larger Arrowhead stadium.  At first it was exciting, but it grew to become a project every Sunday, on which there was a home game, taking nearly the whole day with time for transportation, traffic, parking, etc. We had to get a babysitter for our young daughters for nearly the whole day.  In addition to the time, it also became rather costly.  

I had acquired an idol, a professional football team.  It became a detriment and a distraction to my love and responsibilities to my family.  There is nothing inherently wrong with being a fan of a professional football team, but when it detracts from loving your spouse and young family, and expressing your love for God on Sunday, I was in danger of creating and serving an idol over more important relationships and responsibilities – God and family. 

The people of Israel seemed to suffer from this tendency when the Bible reports in 2 Kings: 17:41, “Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols.”  This eventually led to their exile in 722 BC, by the king of Assyria.    

Do you have idols that distract from your love of God and the people he has put in your life?     

How much do we connect our work with God?  In a seminar on faith and work which I attended a few years ago, most of the people in my small group of twelve said that they never thought of their work as having anything to do with God or their faith. 

Our increasingly secular culture would like to keep God and faith confined to Sundays and inside church buildings.  But that was never God’s intention.  He tells us at the beginning of Genesis, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work and take care of it.” (Genesis 2:15, NIV) God created us in his image and likeness and put us in the garden of his creation to “work and take care of it.” 

The Second Vatican Council said, “This split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted as one of the more serious errors of our age.”  In commenting on this condition, St. John Paul II said, “A faith that does not affect a person’s culture is a faith not fully embraced, not entirely thought out, not faithfully lived.”

We had a legal secretary where I worked who talked a lot about her Christian faith in the office.  But when she was being counseled about her poor performance in serving the attorneys assigned to her, she indignantly proclaimed, “I don’t serve anyone but God!”  She was obviously confused about what serving God entailed — that we serve God and take care of his creation when we bring his presence into our work, seeking to bring his love, truth and excellence to our jobs and the people and circumstances of our workplaces.

James Hunter, in his book, To Change the World, says that the “great commission” has long been viewed geographically in terms of sending missionaries to faraway places.  But the great commission can also be interpreted in terms of the church going into all realms of social structure, including the workplace in whatever form it takes.  He says, “When the church does not send people out to these realms and when it does not provide the theologies that make sense of work and engagement, the church fails to fulfill the charge to ‘go into all the world.’”   

We serve God and take care of his creation when we do our jobs to the best of our ability no matter how significant or insignificant we may view them.  We are acting in God’s plan for us when we bring his presence, truth, love, and excellence into the conduct of our jobs. 

How do you view your work? 

St. Paul considered his friendship with Jesus the most important thing in his life.  “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ.”  (Phil. 3:8 NIV)

He considered his friendship with Jesus more important than his ministry, preaching, miracles, prophesies and every aspect of his life.  Jesus seemed to confirm this importance in his final prayer to the Father on behalf of the disciples when he prayed, “Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God and the one whom you have sent, Jesus Christ.” (John 17:3) The knowledge that Jesus was referring to was not just knowing about God and himself but knowing the Father and the Son as a person and friend.   

For over 45 years I have been meeting with Jesus nearly every morning for coffee.  We are friends like my best friend who is my wife; like a few Christian brothers who know me inside and out.  I read some scripture, usually the daily readings for mass and excerpts from the Liturgy of the Hours.  Jesus often speaks to me through scripture giving me insight to a particular passage or he puts thoughts in my mind about another person or an upcoming event.  I look on these as guidance from him.  While I am still capable of messing up, his friendship helps me to seek forgiveness whenever I do.

Jesuit author William A. Barry in his book, A Friendship Like No Other, says that a major way in which God communicates with us is through our imagination, memories, insights and thoughts.  Whether they are from God is a question of discernment, which is often determined by the fruit of what follows.

Jesus told the disciples, “I have called you friends because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” (John 15:15) We have the benefit of scripture to learn about the Father and the Son, and the opportunity to accept their offer to dwell within us. (John 14:23) We also have our God-created ability to think, imagine, and receive insights.  This, in combination with the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the sacraments of the church enable us to establish a friendship with the Father and the Son.    

Friends share knowledge and experiences.  A husband and wife share intimate details about their respective lives.  Good friends share joys, sorrows, and the mundane.  

Have you sought this kind of friendship with Jesus?  

“Ten days passed before the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.” (Jeremiah 42:7)

Following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587 B. C. and the exile of much of the Jewish leadership, a remnant of leading Jewish citizens asked Jeremiah what the Lord wanted them to do. Jeremiah went to the Lord on their behalf, but the Lord took ten days before he answered him. 

It is interesting to note that God did not answer Jeremiah immediately but waited ten days.  While ten days may not sound long, it was apparently significant enough for this Old Testament author to mention it. 

Christians often lament on how long the Lord takes to respond to their prayers.  Yet our patience is often rewarded, as the following story illustrates.

Our daughter, Emily, who was born with Down syndrome, worked at a bakery and catering business for twelve years after her schooling.  The business shut down during COVID and never reopened.  The following year she worked at a similar business for a time, but it was not as pleasant a working environment and she did not have the peers that she was accustomed to working with in the former business.  As a result, she became very sad and stopped working.  We prayed for over a year for a new work opportunity to develop but none did. 

Then my wife and our other daughters came up with the idea for her to serve coffee and cookies for people who attended daily mass at our parish for a couple of days during the week.  They named the ministry “Coffee and Community.”  The parish staff and pastor approved the idea, we hired a job coach to help with preparation of the coffee, and Emily and my wife make the cookies.  She loves greeting people, giving them a hug, a cup for their coffee, and some cookies.  The custodian sets up three round tables and anywhere from a dozen to thirty or more people show up for a cup of coffee, a cookie, and great fellowship. 

We prayed for over a year for just the right job for Emily.  The Lord not only gave her work to do, but a whole new set of friends.  She loves the people, and the people love her as well as the fellowship they enjoy with one another.   

God is faithful!  Sometimes his response takes time for various circumstances to develop so that the answer is in furtherance of his perfect will and Kingdom. 

Are you waiting on God to answer a particular prayer?    

In the late 1970’s my wife and I were prayed with for the baptism in the Holy Spirit.  We each experienced a renewal of our faith and the presence of God in a way we had not before.  A year later we attended a Christian rally in the old Shea Stadium in New York along with several friends from our parish prayer group.  After listening to a talk on healing, the speaker asked the 30,000 people in attendance to turn to one another and pray for any needs of healing. 

Our friends, said, “Let’s pray for Bill’s eyes.” (I had been previously diagnosed with glaucoma and experienced the loss of about 30% of my field of vision.)  They laid hands on me and prayed that my vision would be restored.  The following Monday morning, I just happened to have one of my quarterly examinations with my ophthalmologist and he just happened to conduct an annual field of vision test.  As he conducted the test I began to hear him say “hum” repeatedly.  After about the fourth “hum” I asked if there was something wrong.  He said, “Well, you seem to have a full field of vision.”  I said, “I thought you told me I could never recover the vision I had lost. He said, “Yes, I did.” 

I then told him where I had been on Saturday and how some friends prayed with me for healing, and he said, “Well, I will take all the help I can get.”

To our friends and us, it was a physical affirmation of God’s presence in our lives, a sign of the power of the Holy Spirit working in us and the world today.  We weren’t looking for a sign to believe.  We believed and would have continued to believe even without the sign.  But it built up our faith and affirmed the reality of God’s presence and love for us.

St. Paul said, “For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.” (1 Thessalonians 1:5) St. Paul is telling the Thessalonians that he knows that they were chosen by God because the gospel came to them not only with words, but with power in the Holy Spirit.

Signs of God’s presence can take many forms.  Perhaps the most powerful and lasting is a changed heart.  Jesus’ interaction with Zacchaeus was not accompanied by a physical sign of healing, but it did result in a changed heart with a far more enduring effect on Zacchaeus and no doubt the people in his life. (Luke 19:1-10)

How have you seen a sign of God’s presence in your life?

A few years ago, my friend, Bud, and I went out on the Potomac River south of Washington, D. C.  Our intention was to go down river a few miles to a crab house, but the wind became so strong that we could not dock safely at the crab house, so we decided to return to the marina.  The Potomac widens to about three miles in this area, so the wind has room to kick up.   Our boat is a cruiser with a flying bridge and a canvas Bimini, so there is sufficient bulk for the wind to impact the steerage of the boat.  We estimated the wind at 35 to 40 miles per hour with white caps everywhere. 

I said to Bud, a good Christian brother, that we needed to start praying because the wind would hit us broadside as soon as we started to turn into the alleyway of the marina, causing us to crash into the boats adjacent to our slip.  We started praying, “Lord Jesus, you calmed the wind and waves on the Sea of Galilee; calm these winds. (Luke8:22-25)   The wind did not abate.   I asked Bud to go down to the stern with a boat hook (pole) to try to keep us from being blown into other boats.  We both kept praying, “Jesus, calm the wind, Jesus calm the wind!”  The wind kept blowing. 

As we approached the alleyway, I told Bud, “I need to come in fast to control the boat in the wind.”  I was so focused on controlling the boat and yelling instructions at Bud, I didn’t notice what was happening.  Bud yelled back, “Bill, the wind has stopped!” I proceeded into the alleyway, pivoted the boat, and backed into the slip without any difficulty.  As soon as we tied up and secured everything, the wind resumed its fury.

There are many ways we can experience high winds in life – a spouse or child who is critically ill, the loss of a job, a life-threatening illness, a boss who cannot be satisfied, a child who struggles making friends, the backbiting of a competitive work colleague, the birth of a child with a disability, a tax deficiency notice from the IRS — the list is long and varied.  Jesus is available to calm the high winds, whatever form they take. 

Do you call on Jesus when you encounter the high winds in your life?     

God gives each of us a lease of time in this physical world with varying durations.  He entrusts us with various talents.  He puts people in our lives.  He has a job or work that is to be our contribution to furthering his creation.  He expects some fruit to come from his lease to us.  For me and many of us, any review of our lives will likely produce a mixed report with both positive and negative fruit.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus shares the Parable of the Tenants. “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and then went on a journey for a long time.” (Luke 20:9) At harvest time he sent his servants and subsequently his son to collect some of the fruit, but the tenants beat the servants and killed the son, claiming the vineyard for themselves,  

The response of the vineyard owner was harsh.  He killed the tenants and gave the vineyard to others.  The chief priests to whom Jesus was telling the parable realized that Jesus was talking about them.

Recently I was rereading “Notes from Your Family” in honor of a certain birthday from a couple of years ago.  The notes were from my wife, my children, their spouses, and their children.  In their notes, they shared various memories of when I spent time with them individually or when we did things together as a family, or extended family involving the grandchildren.  Many of the memories were when the children or grandchildren were young, playing a game, taking a hike, building something, making a trail through the woods, teaching them to fish, time on the boat, or times when we were all together at a beach house.

Some of these moments I had forgotten, but they had not.  While I may not have realized it at the time, these various times were given to me by God in my lease from him.  Some of them were bearing fruit and may have contributed in some small way to where our children and their children are today. 

Time, spouse, children, grandchildren, work, friends, ministry and faith — all are part of the lease God gives to each of us. All are precious seeds waiting to bear fruit for the Lord under our tenancy.

What kind of tenant have you been of God’s lease to you?

In my 38-year career with a large oil company I saw a number of good men who experienced success, only to see a pride build up in them that led to overreach in the exercise of their authority and subsequent downfall.  I too, struggled at times with pride in how I related to others, and in allowing my position to define who I was.

Even the disciples, James and John, sought the position of sitting at Jesus’ right and left. The others became indignant, but Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant…For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” (Mk. 10:43, 45) The reason Jesus said it was easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than a rich man into the Kingdom of God is because of the pride that often accompanies wealth and worldly success.

I have learned so much about humility from our daughter, Emily who has Down syndrome.  She does not presume any special position, only to love her family and friends and to experience our love in return. 

One of the problems with how we handle success is its definition.  The world views success in terms of position, authority, power, and wealth, while God views success in terms of whether we are fulfilling his will in our lives.  He urges us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”  If our focus is on seeking God’s will, we might be better able to handle success however it is defined and in whatever form it takes. 

A friend gave me a Litany of Humility which I sometimes recite during morning prayer. 

“O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, deliver me from the desire of being esteemed, loved, extolled, honored, praised, consulted or approved.  Deliver me from the fear of being humiliated, despised, forgotten, ridiculed or wronged.  Grant me the grace to desire that others might be loved more, esteemed more, chosen, praised, preferred, and become holier than I, provided that I become as holy as I should.”

How do you deal with success and pride in your life?

Several years ago, three of my daughters and I were water skiing in Uncle Tut’s boat when the outboard motor conked out.  He tried to start it several times, he fiddled with several adjustments, but nothing seemed to work.  It was getting late in the day.  There were no other boaters in the area.  He had no VHS radio, and it was a time before cell phones.  We just sat there unable to get back to the landing.  I started to silently pray that the motor would start.  Uncle Tut kept pulling at the starter cord, but nothing happened. 

I got a sense that I needed to pray out loud so Uncle Tut and my daughters could hear me.  As Tut was giving it another yank, I shouted, “Lord Jesus, start the engine!”  Varoom, the motor started right up.  Uncle Tut, who loved to tell stories, told this story for years – how my prayer started his outboard motor when nothing else could. 

Faith is incomplete without some kind of action.  We need to act on our faith for it to have an effect.  It usually requires that we be willing to risk failure, embarrassment, or disappointment. 

Have you noticed how often Jesus says to someone, “your faith has healed [saved] you?”  We see it with the woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years. She pushed through a crowd encircling Jesus, hoping only to touch his cloak.  She said, “’If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.”  Jesus, feeling power go out of him, turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” (Matthew 9:21-22)

We see it with Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, who the crowd attempted to silence as he cried out to Jesus who was passing by. (Mark 10:46-52)    We see it in the friends of a paralytic as they went to the extraordinary efforts of taking him up on a roof and lowering him down through the tiles in the middle of a crowd to get him to Jesus. (Luke 5:18-26)

In each of these instances it was the actions that people took based on their faith that brought forth a favorable response from Jesus.   

Every day we have opportunities to act on our faith.  If we see a questionable business practice, our faith in Christ should enable us to speak up for integrity.  If someone needs to talk, our faith should be willing to listen, and if the friend is discouraged, our faith should motivate us to provide encouragement.  If we see a need for healing, our faith should be willing to offer to pray with the person.  If we need healing, our faith should be willing to ask others to pray with us.  

Are you willing to act on your faith?

“God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses.” (Acts 2:32) 

These are the words of Peter on the day of Pentecost after the disciples experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit.  Peter is trying to explain to people who had heard the disciples praising God in various tongues and languages what was happening.  The disciples had just experienced an outpouring of the Holy Spirit as Jesus had told them in Acts 1:8 “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth.”

Four hundred years earlier, the prophet, Joel foretold, “I will pour out my Spirit on all mankind. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; even upon the servants and the handmaids, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.” (Joel 3:1-2) 

Acts 1:15 indicates that there were 120 present following the ascension of Jesus.  Paul reports in 1 Corinthians 15:6 that Jesus appeared to “more than five hundred of the brothers at once.”  All of these were witnesses to Jesus and his resurrection. 

God invites all of us to meet the resurrected Jesus in a way that is unique and personal to each of us. Then like Peter and the several hundred disciples who saw Jesus after his resurrection, we are called to witness to the resurrected Jesus in our own life – that we have met him, that he lives in us and that he is real.  Many years ago, I met Jesus one October evening during a healing mass, and he took some disorder and sin from my life and offered me a new life if I would accept his healing, forgiveness and love. 

I accepted his offer.  Ever since that time, I have been trying to witness to his resurrection and presence in my life and the life of my family and others.  I don’t always do as good a job as I should, but the reality of his presence is there nevertheless.  I have spoken about him to my family, business colleagues, bosses, subordinates; to people individually, in small groups and large groups; sometimes to strangers. 

I have spoken of his love, his forgiveness, his provision, his guidance, his revelation of scripture, his presence in the sacraments and his presence in others.  The greatest challenge is being his witness not just in word, but in conduct.  That takes God’s grace, constant prayer, and awareness of his presence through the Holy Spirit.

Have you accepted the offer of the resurrected Jesus to live in you and witness to his presence?