Bring a leper to work today
A leper met Jesus and asked to be cured. Jesus cured him and the leper was grateful. Jesus cured many, but it's how this leper asked for a cure that contains an important lesson for us Catholic men at work.
Many of us want to be "successful." We want to reap the rewards that come with success, to see the fruits of our labor. And here it can get a little dicey. One man's success can be another man's failure or disappointment. The really ambitious sometimes are never satisfied. They always want more.
We're not just talking about working hard here. Working hard and wanting more are different. We all should work hard, just as we should pray hard. Laziness can tempt us from time to time, but most of us know being lazy isn't an option. We've got to put our shoulder to the plow in both our prayer and work.
But wanting more can be a problem. When we always want more, we're never satisfied. A lot of bad things come from this. Just look at the whole Wall Street mess that resulted in our latest financial crisis. Greed played its usual terrible role in all that. Greed came from wanting more - always wanting more.
But maybe the worst part of wanting more is what it does to us over time. We're always looking for ways to get more. As we get more, we start feeling like we're "in charge." We're not in charge. God is in charge. Do we ever stop to ask if He thinks our wanting more is a good? Maybe not. We're probably too busy figuring out how we can get results. What will give us the result we want - that's the important thing, we're always thinking.
I'm not talking about our duty to get results for our employer. That's really a simple matter of justice. Justice on the job can simply mean a fair day's wages for a day's work. The Church speaks of a just wage. Employers owe this to their employees. We all want to be paid fairly for our efforts, and indeed justice is not served when we are not paid fairly. On the reverse, we're obligated to provide a good effort - an effort that produces results - to our employer.
But the results we're talking about here are results for us. We're not thinking about what's best for our employer; we're thinking about what's best for us. How can we be more successful, get more.
And when things don't go our way, we easily get discouraged, resentful, even angry. We're so wrapped up in ourselves, in what we want, these emotions come easily to us. Even men I've known who really make the effort to go to Mass daily and seem to lead a relatively holy, even pious personal life, seem trapped in this "success syndrome" at work.
Back to the leper: The leper who meets Jesus asks Him "If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." He comes to Our Lord with just the right attitude. First, he acknowledges that he is sick. He's not discouraged because of this. He's even bold in asking for Our Lord's help. But when he asks, He leaves it up to Jesus. He doesn't insist that things be done as he wants. He has the humility to know that Our Lord knows better than he.
He has the attitude we need at work - we who are ambitious, who want more. So maybe we should bring the leper to work with us. Let his attitude sink in. Maybe he can help us change. Ambition is no sin, until we start thinking we're in charge. The leper will remind us who's in charge.
Many of us want to be "successful." We want to reap the rewards that come with success, to see the fruits of our labor. And here it can get a little dicey. One man's success can be another man's failure or disappointment. The really ambitious sometimes are never satisfied. They always want more.
We're not just talking about working hard here. Working hard and wanting more are different. We all should work hard, just as we should pray hard. Laziness can tempt us from time to time, but most of us know being lazy isn't an option. We've got to put our shoulder to the plow in both our prayer and work.
But wanting more can be a problem. When we always want more, we're never satisfied. A lot of bad things come from this. Just look at the whole Wall Street mess that resulted in our latest financial crisis. Greed played its usual terrible role in all that. Greed came from wanting more - always wanting more.
But maybe the worst part of wanting more is what it does to us over time. We're always looking for ways to get more. As we get more, we start feeling like we're "in charge." We're not in charge. God is in charge. Do we ever stop to ask if He thinks our wanting more is a good? Maybe not. We're probably too busy figuring out how we can get results. What will give us the result we want - that's the important thing, we're always thinking.
I'm not talking about our duty to get results for our employer. That's really a simple matter of justice. Justice on the job can simply mean a fair day's wages for a day's work. The Church speaks of a just wage. Employers owe this to their employees. We all want to be paid fairly for our efforts, and indeed justice is not served when we are not paid fairly. On the reverse, we're obligated to provide a good effort - an effort that produces results - to our employer.
But the results we're talking about here are results for us. We're not thinking about what's best for our employer; we're thinking about what's best for us. How can we be more successful, get more.
And when things don't go our way, we easily get discouraged, resentful, even angry. We're so wrapped up in ourselves, in what we want, these emotions come easily to us. Even men I've known who really make the effort to go to Mass daily and seem to lead a relatively holy, even pious personal life, seem trapped in this "success syndrome" at work.
Back to the leper: The leper who meets Jesus asks Him "If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." He comes to Our Lord with just the right attitude. First, he acknowledges that he is sick. He's not discouraged because of this. He's even bold in asking for Our Lord's help. But when he asks, He leaves it up to Jesus. He doesn't insist that things be done as he wants. He has the humility to know that Our Lord knows better than he.
He has the attitude we need at work - we who are ambitious, who want more. So maybe we should bring the leper to work with us. Let his attitude sink in. Maybe he can help us change. Ambition is no sin, until we start thinking we're in charge. The leper will remind us who's in charge.
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