Add This to a Healthy Body and a Joyful Spirit
As we saw last time, a healthy body and a joyful spirit are essential building blocks not only to a reasonably happy life, but also to being successful at work. Now that we're all wise enough to do our best to eat well, stay in shape, and live and work with a joyful heart, I thought we'd consider something wonderful Our Lord told us when He walked this earth.
You'll remember that Our Lord spoke of Himself as a "Good Shepherd." It's one of the enduring and, at least for me, most moving images we have of Him.
But it's not just sweetness and sense of security that we can derive from Our Lord. This Good Shepherd of ours not only protects us from danger; He give us everlasting life.
In John 10: 27-30 we read:
"My sheep hear my voice: and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them life everlasting: and they shall not perish for ever, and no man shall pluck them out of my hand. That which my Father hath given me is greater than all: and no one can snatch them out of the hand of my Father..."
As we noted last time, most of us work for money. Money typically plays a key, if not the key role in our decision to work for a particular employer, practice a particular profession, or pursue owning your own business. But we also learned that money can't hold a candle to a healthy body and soul and a joyful spirit. Today we up the ante: Money can in now way, no how, compare with the promise made to us by our Good Shepherd. That promise: life everlasting.
To make sure we all get this, let's use our imaginations for a couple of minutes...
You make all the money in the world. Like Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos, you can take that money and build up the biggest storehouse of personal wealth the world has ever seen: bank accounts, investments, houses, cars - you name it. The world will be your oyster, as the old saying goes.
Or if it's not material wealth, maybe it's power. Imagine it: You're the President of the United States, the most powerful politician in the world. You're surrounded by people who do your every bidding. You command the most powerful armed forces the world has ever seen.
Perhaps you're not so grossly ambitious. But you've dedicated yourself to a trade, or profession or building a small business: carpenter, accountant, builder, lawyer, farmer...whatever. You may not be uber-rich, but you're recognized by your peers and your community as one of very best, the top of the heap, maybe even the king of the hill.
I don't know about you, but I'm getting excited just writing about the possibilities.
Now let's all take a VERY DEEP BREATH.
All calmed down? Your swollen head's back to normal size? Okay. Now put that brain of yours into gear. Compare any or all of this to what the Good Shepherd promises us: LIFE EVERLASTING. And to be sure we get the point here, He adds: and they shall not perish for ever, and no man shall pluck them out of my hand. And for those who heard this astounding message, who might not have quite grasped that this Good Shepherd is not just a man like themselves, but God Himself, He takes the trouble to guarantee His promise in a manner that anyone of His listeners could understand: That which my Father hath given me is greater than all: and no one can snatch them out of the hand of my Father.
The ultimate assurance, the greatest guarantee, and from the lips of the Good Shepherd Himself!
Now, assuming you've got even a whiff of faith, or a smidgen of Catholic sensibility, of all those possibilities - wealth, power, prestige, or life everlasting - which would you choose? Rather than popping into your mind, the answer should have simply EXPLODED.
Wrapping up, let's bring the Good Shepherd's promise of life everlasting, in addition to a healthy body and a joyful spirit, to work with us today. Can we all manage that? I know I'm going to give it my best shot. If you do too, I'm willing to bet all of us may on the cusp of a day at work unlike any we've ever experienced.
You'll remember that Our Lord spoke of Himself as a "Good Shepherd." It's one of the enduring and, at least for me, most moving images we have of Him.
But it's not just sweetness and sense of security that we can derive from Our Lord. This Good Shepherd of ours not only protects us from danger; He give us everlasting life.
In John 10: 27-30 we read:
"My sheep hear my voice: and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them life everlasting: and they shall not perish for ever, and no man shall pluck them out of my hand. That which my Father hath given me is greater than all: and no one can snatch them out of the hand of my Father..."
As we noted last time, most of us work for money. Money typically plays a key, if not the key role in our decision to work for a particular employer, practice a particular profession, or pursue owning your own business. But we also learned that money can't hold a candle to a healthy body and soul and a joyful spirit. Today we up the ante: Money can in now way, no how, compare with the promise made to us by our Good Shepherd. That promise: life everlasting.
To make sure we all get this, let's use our imaginations for a couple of minutes...
You make all the money in the world. Like Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos, you can take that money and build up the biggest storehouse of personal wealth the world has ever seen: bank accounts, investments, houses, cars - you name it. The world will be your oyster, as the old saying goes.
Or if it's not material wealth, maybe it's power. Imagine it: You're the President of the United States, the most powerful politician in the world. You're surrounded by people who do your every bidding. You command the most powerful armed forces the world has ever seen.
Perhaps you're not so grossly ambitious. But you've dedicated yourself to a trade, or profession or building a small business: carpenter, accountant, builder, lawyer, farmer...whatever. You may not be uber-rich, but you're recognized by your peers and your community as one of very best, the top of the heap, maybe even the king of the hill.
I don't know about you, but I'm getting excited just writing about the possibilities.
Now let's all take a VERY DEEP BREATH.
All calmed down? Your swollen head's back to normal size? Okay. Now put that brain of yours into gear. Compare any or all of this to what the Good Shepherd promises us: LIFE EVERLASTING. And to be sure we get the point here, He adds: and they shall not perish for ever, and no man shall pluck them out of my hand. And for those who heard this astounding message, who might not have quite grasped that this Good Shepherd is not just a man like themselves, but God Himself, He takes the trouble to guarantee His promise in a manner that anyone of His listeners could understand: That which my Father hath given me is greater than all: and no one can snatch them out of the hand of my Father.
The ultimate assurance, the greatest guarantee, and from the lips of the Good Shepherd Himself!
Now, assuming you've got even a whiff of faith, or a smidgen of Catholic sensibility, of all those possibilities - wealth, power, prestige, or life everlasting - which would you choose? Rather than popping into your mind, the answer should have simply EXPLODED.
Wrapping up, let's bring the Good Shepherd's promise of life everlasting, in addition to a healthy body and a joyful spirit, to work with us today. Can we all manage that? I know I'm going to give it my best shot. If you do too, I'm willing to bet all of us may on the cusp of a day at work unlike any we've ever experienced.
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