You will probably agree with me that having integrity is essential to your success. Yes, integrity means living by a moral code or doing the right thing. It also means steadfastness or lasting. But the root of the word integrity means wholeness, or undivided. In this episode of By Your Life, we talk about the challenge of living whole lives of integrity.

Mass Readings Audio
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2019/19_11_03.mp3

Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time – November 3, 2019

Welcome to the eighty-fourth episode of By Your Life. I’m Lisa Huetteman and I know that you have a hundred different things you could be doing right now, so I thank you for choosing By Your Life. If you haven’t already, please sign up for notifications, and if you know of someone who can benefit from By Your Life, tag them, share it, and like it.

My goal is to inspire, empower, support, challenge, and encourage you to connect Sunday, with Monday-Friday, in a secular, business world. It’s my desire to help you live our Catholic faith in the marketplace. I hope to offer you practical ways to go forth and glorify the Lord by your life.

In this edition, we’ll reflect on the readings for the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. In this Sunday’s Gospel, we heard the famous story of Zacchaeus the chief tax collector, who climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus as he passed by. As I read this story, there was one seemingly insignificant detail that caught my attention. That is, Jesus “came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.” (Lk 19:1) He was on his way to Jerusalem so that everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man would be fulfilled. (Lk 18:31) But then, he changed his mind when he saw the man up in the tree. He said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” (Lk 19:5)

It made me wonder about how often I’m so intent on my plans and what I need to accomplish that I fail to even notice the people around me, let alone change my plans to accommodate them. I know that it is quite often. But not Jesus. He was on his way to Jerusalem for the salvation of mankind, yet he stopped and took the time to save this one lost man.

One of the books I’ve mentioned several times in other episodes of By Your Life is The Pope and the CEO by Andreas Widmer. Widmer was one of St. Pope John Paul II’s Swiss guards, and in the book, he tells of the leadership lessons he learned from the saint. One of the stories he told that stuck out to me was about an encounter with John Paul II on Christmas Eve. He was standing guard outside the papal apartment and the pope was leaving to celebrate Midnight Mass but paused about 20 feet away and looked at him. Andreas Widmer writes:

Then (John Paul II) spoke: “You’re new! What’s your name?” I told him and he came closer, peering into my reddened eyes. He immediately understood what was going on and said, “This is your first Christmas away from home, isn’t it?” I replied in the affirmative, barely holding back the tears as I answered.

Taking my hand with one hand and holding my elbow with the other, he pulled me slightly toward him and said, “Andreas, I want to thank you for the sacrifice you are making for the Church. I will pray for you during Mass this evening.”

Here was the leader of a billion Catholics, at the height of some of the fiercest battles, occupied with the most overwhelming and impossible problems of the century, yet he was still sensitive enough to perceive the emotions of a twenty-year-old guard whose sole job was to blend in with the background as he passed.

Pope St. John Paul II knew where he was going, but also knew where he was and able to see the needs right in front of him and his life expressed what he believed about the human person, that is, as our first reading said, “you love all things that are… they are yours, O LORD and lover of souls.” (Wis 11:24, 26)

Andreas continued:

“On that Christmas Eve, at a time when he had a million reasons to be preoccupied and absorbed in far more important matters, the pope noticed me.

He was always fully present, keenly aware of what was going on in the heart and mind of the person to whom he spoke and far more interested in what you had to say to him than what he had to say to you. No matter what other pressing concerns awaited him at the end of your conversation, those concerns were seemingly absent from his mind while he was with you.”

Leadership is about leading people and leading people demands integrity. Too often we get caught up in the tasks that need to be accomplished and we forget about that. We are more concerned about what is getting done than we are about who is doing it. We are more concerned about leadership efficiency than leadership effectiveness. The thing is, it isn’t an “either/or” proposition, rather “both yes/and”. Integrity means wholeness, not divided. So, yes, we need to be efficient, but not at the cost of effectiveness. And yes, we need to get things done, but not at the cost of the human person.

Unfortunately, technology has accelerated the pace we are expected to keep and at the same time, stripped relationships of intimacy. Instead of looking at the other person’s face and seeing their emotions, or hearing it in their voice, we are left to the aid of an emoji or worse, we assume what others are feeling based on our emotions at the time of the electronic exchange. That is neither efficient nor effective.

If you are struggling with ineffective communication, stop emailing and pick up the phone, or better yet, set up a meeting. Slow down enough to notice what is going on with the other person and maybe you’ll find you communicate more effectively, which is always more efficient. But more importantly, you will be acknowledging the human person with all their strengths and weaknesses, joys and sufferings, as God’s creation, worthy of respect by nature of their being, and worthy of love, because God loved them into existence.

And this is what Jesus did with Zacchaeus. He stopped, noticed him, called him by name and showed him the utmost respect by going to his house. And Zacchaeus “received him with joy” (Lk 19:6), repented of his sins, and vowed to make restitution.

But, I wondered about what happened to Zacchaeus the next day. What did he do when it was time to go to work? He was a tax collector after all, and the chief tax collector at that. The fact that he was despised by his fellow Jews, probably didn’t change just because Zacchaeus changed. Was his joy short-lived? How was he going to support his family? What did his wife say when he not only pledged half his possessions but to repay what he extorted four times over? What happened to him when the passion he felt at that moment of conversion was challenged by daily struggles?

The answer as far as Zacchaeus goes is that we don’t know. But for the rest of us, unfortunately, too often we drift away from our conviction when the going gets tough or when our livelihood is at stake.

This week, there has been a lot of press about Senator Joe Biden being denied Holy Communion by a priest in South Carolina. The senator attended Mass there while campaigning in the state, but because of his support of abortion, which is contrary to Church teaching, the priest refused Holy Communion to the former Vice President. The priest said, “Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other and the Church. Our actions should reflect that. Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching.”

When asked about the inconsistency between his public support of abortion and his personal faith as a Catholic, Mr. Biden has said that he holds firm to Catholic teaching, but as a public servant, he will not force his personal beliefs on others. I don’t know Senator Biden and I’m not judging him. I too have presented myself for communion when I knew I shouldn’t until a priest called me on it. It was that action by the priest that changed my life. I hope for the same for Mr. Biden.

That being said, my reason for bringing this up is that I’d like to use his case as an example in a more general sense. That is, how often do we believe something personally, yet when it comes to honoring that belief in our work lives, we fall short. How often do we lack integrity and live a divided life, one personal and the other professional? So, to live with this inconsistency, we justify ourselves by drawing an imaginary line between our personal and our work selves, telling ourselves the two should be separate. The problem with this is that it doesn’t work. The problem is that when we do, we lack integrity.

Coincidentally, this was the theme that Bishop Barron shared when he was on Capitol Hill this week to deliver a talk to a small bipartisan group of congressmen. He also delivered the opening prayer on the U.S. House Floor. He prayed:

“O God, Source of all justice, You have summoned everyone who works in this chamber to walk the path of righteousness, to foster life and liberty, to care especially for the poorest and most vulnerable in our society. Free these servants of yours O Lord, of all those attachments to wealth or power or privilege or fame that would prevent them from following the course You have set out for them. Make them mindful of the time when they first heard your voice and followed it with idealism and enthusiasm.”

This prayer followed the theme from the talk that he delivered the day before when he told legislators that they were right to think of their role pursuing justice through public service as a vocation, and they were really called by God to do so.

“When you were seized by a passion for justice, I would say you were called by God at that moment,” the bishop said. God called those in public service through a desire for justice, emphasizing the need for “bringing our lives into harmony with the integrity and beauty of that call” where “everything I do is about serving justice.” However, he warned that might make them “unpopular,” “less rich,” or see them “attacked.”

It is not just politicians who are called to their vocation and it is not just politicians who fear being unpopular, less rich or being attacked. We all are guilty of shying away when living our faith is tested in the marketplace. Tom Strickland, the president of Suncoast Team Services, a commercial design/build services company, believes that despite these fears, leaders should boldly live their personal values. When I interviewed him for my book, The Value of Core Values, he said:

“Some people, even some who are strong Christians, struggle with faith in the workplace. They say to me, “My faith is what I do on my time. It’s not what I do on the company’s time.” That reminds me of some star athletes who say, “I don’t want to be an example.” But like it or not, that’s what they are.

The same is true for those of us who are business leaders and owners. The people who work for us are looking to us to set the example. I don’t care if you don’t want to be an example; the fact is you are. We have an opportunity and a responsibility. We can help change a lot of things for the better if we step up to the plate.”

We all need to step up to the plate. Unfortunately, if social media is any indication, the reputation of the Catholic Church is a lot like Zacchaeus’ before he encountered Christ on the road that day. A “connection” of mine who shared the story about Senator Biden wrote: “The Catholic Church is also sexist and racist for many centuries yet covering up sexual abuse.”

He’s right. There are Catholics who are sexist, racist, and covered up sexual abuse. There are Catholics who support abortion, capital punishment, same-sex “marriage”, and contraception. There are Catholics who are indifferent to the plight of the poor, the immigrant, the lonely. There are Catholics of every type who violate Jesus’ commandment to “love the Lord, your God… and your neighbor as yourself.” (Lk 10:27) There are Catholics who lack integrity.

But there are also Catholics like Pope St. John Paul II and there are Catholics like you and me, who while not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, can live our lives in such a way that we glorify Jesus and his Bride the Church.

Just imagine if the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics, or even the US’s 70+ million Catholics, that serve as justices of the Supreme Court, U.S. Senators, Congressmen and state governors, businessmen and women, doctors, nurses, scientists, teachers, administrators, coaches, and parents stepped up to the plate 24/7, and not just for an hour on Sunday. What if we boldly lived according to the teachings of the Church with the passion that we felt on that moment of conversion, when we, like Zacchaeus allowed the Lord to come stay with us? What if all these Catholics lived a life of integrity?

This is possible only if we support each other on this journey, by calling each other out, as that priest did for me many years ago, and as the one did for Senator Biden last weekend. We also need to support each other when we struggle and hold each other accountable when we fail. We need to love each other as God, our Creator loves us, and “rebuke offenders little by little, warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O LORD.” (Wis 12:2)

We are the hands and feet and face of the Catholic Church. We may be as small and insignificant as “a grain from a balance, or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth” (Wis 11:22), but together we are a force that can change the world, if we stay connected to the true, the good and the beautiful Catholic faith, and as Bishop Barron challenged members of Congress this week “find it, fight for it, and propagate it.”

Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to bring us back to the passion we felt at that moment of conversion so that we may boldly live our faith, at home, at church, and at work, and we may glorify the Lord by our lives.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

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