Working During The Days Before Pentecost - 2

We're trying to connect our work today with Pentecost - now only a few days away. Last time we considered a particularly difficult assignment we had to tackle - one for which we felt we lacked the experience and skills to address. Our initial connection placed us with the disciples in the room before the Holy Spirit descended upon them on that first Pentecost Sunday.

We wisely began our quest to handle this assignment with some moments of recollected prayer. (If we're really on our game, we'll keep the spiritual in the mix throughout our process of dealing with this particularly difficult assignment.) For what to do next, we made some general practical suggestions. But let's now return to the disciples in the Upper Room.

The Holy Spirit has descended upon them. The tongues of fire have alighted on their heads. They begin to spontaneously speak in all sorts of foreign languages. So diverse were the languages and so loud the volume, that people in the street heard what was going on. People who spoke other languages than the local one were shocked to hear their native tongues. And so cacophonous was the sound that some thought the disciples must be drunk.

St. Peter stepped out and set them straight as to exactly what was going on. He spoke with an eloquence that caused about three thousand people to seek and receive Baptism. The fledgling Church of Our Lord was off to a roaring start.

And in the coming days, weeks, months, and years, as we know, the Catholic Church would grow exponentially. 

Of course, that growth wouldn't all be as spectacular as that first Pentecost. Spiritual inspiration would be combined with human creativity. Which brings us back to our work during these days before Pentecost. 

Facing our particularly difficult assignments, we've recollected ourselves, putting the spiritual first. With that we combine our human creativity. Our approach includes one or more of: study, research, consultation, comparison with other similar assignments, applying our intellect. Once we get the mix right - depending on the degree of difficulty and our uncertainty about whether we'll succeed - the virtue of fortitude may very well play a major role in us getting down to the nitty-gritty.

Difficult, perhaps near-impossible assignments ultimately promote our natural and supernatural growth. We might realize in the course of our struggle to find the right process and solution that, ultimately, God will use such incidents as tools in His preparing our soul for its journey to Heaven. (If we never thought of this before, now would be a good time to do so. And we can keep this understanding as as permanent addition to our spiritual tool kit.)

All of this applies not only to those near-impossible assignments that crop up from time to time, but to the regular performance of our daily work. There's less drama, perhaps, but the process is really the same.

And if we can develop the spiritual/practical balance when addressing all our work - each and every task - we've likely taken a few solid steps in the direction of spiritual progress. 

I was going to include "business success" but let's face it. Sometimes our best efforts don't always pay out. If you've worked for any length of time, either as an employee or a business owner, you likely know exactly what this means. It can be quite frustrating. But next time it happens, just remember that best efforts, done for the greater glory of God put spiritual points on the board - and likely help move us a step or two closer to God - the central purpose of our spiritual life. 

Okay, so we may not score with the boss, or our business may flounder a bit more than we'd like. But, seriously, isn't the whole point of life to get to Heaven? Let's try to remember this when the practical strikes out, but the spiritual hits a home run.

Even with Pentecost, Our Lord's disciples didn't always accomplish everything they attempted on a practical level. But with their minds and hearts in the right place, we know they found the greater success - the salvation of their souls in the eternal joy of Heaven.

By the grace of God, we can hope for the same.

Happy Easter!