Time to Hit the "Refresh" Button
Time to hit the "refresh" button, so we'll take a break from our exploration of Working Your Way into Heaven by Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski.
First we'll remind ourselves that we're we're not just men at work, but Catholic men at work. While it's certainly comfortable to be just like everyone else, that's not what we're about, friends. When Baptism freed us from Original Sin, the point wasn't to relax, and melt into the background. Baptism was just the beginning. It's important that we remember this. And it's important that it's reflected in all think, say, and do today, especially in our work. Perhaps these words from St. Matthews Gospel will provide some guidance and inspiration here:
That single piece of paper does all that on a good day.
But what about those days that aren't so good? Those are the days where the busyness of your business sometimes holds your heart and mind prisoner, whether it's that pressing deadline, the complexity of that project you're working through, the sometimes constant distraction of bosses, employees, or colleagues who demand your exclusive attention; or days where physical or emotional suffering clouds your thinking. Such days come at times; sometimes they hang around far too long. Left to our own devices, we can easily let such days push God out of the picture. Or, worse, think that God either doesn't matter, or that He's just not concerned with our plight. Here's a prayer for those days:
First we'll remind ourselves that we're we're not just men at work, but Catholic men at work. While it's certainly comfortable to be just like everyone else, that's not what we're about, friends. When Baptism freed us from Original Sin, the point wasn't to relax, and melt into the background. Baptism was just the beginning. It's important that we remember this. And it's important that it's reflected in all think, say, and do today, especially in our work. Perhaps these words from St. Matthews Gospel will provide some guidance and inspiration here:
You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house.This is pasted in a prominent place in my office, next to my key business initiatives for the year, and my weekly schedule. It's there to remind me that I'm a Catholic at work this day and every day. As I attend to the business of the day, it reminds me that my light, such as it is, needs to shine before men in my good work and my good works. It reminds me that I work "Ad maiorem Dei Gloriam," for the greater glory of God.
So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
That single piece of paper does all that on a good day.
But what about those days that aren't so good? Those are the days where the busyness of your business sometimes holds your heart and mind prisoner, whether it's that pressing deadline, the complexity of that project you're working through, the sometimes constant distraction of bosses, employees, or colleagues who demand your exclusive attention; or days where physical or emotional suffering clouds your thinking. Such days come at times; sometimes they hang around far too long. Left to our own devices, we can easily let such days push God out of the picture. Or, worse, think that God either doesn't matter, or that He's just not concerned with our plight. Here's a prayer for those days:
Teach me, my Lord, to be kind and gentle in all the events of life: in disappointments, in the thoughtlessness of others, in the insincerity of those I trusted, in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied. Let me put myself aside: to think of the happiness of others, to hide my little pains and heartaches so that I may be the only one to suffer from them. Teach me to profit by the suffering that comes across my path. Let me so use it that it may mellow me, not harden nor embitter me; that it may make me broad in my forgiveness, not narrow, haughty, or overbearing. May no one be less good for having come within my influence; no one less pure, less true, less kind, less noble, for having been a fellow-traveler in our journey towards Eternal Life. As I go my rounds from one distraction to another, let me whisper from time to time a word of love to Thee. May my life be lived in the supernatural, full of power for good, and strong in its purpose of sanctity. -AnonymousNext time we'll hit the "refresh" button again.
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