Mass Readings Audio
https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/2021-06-20-usccb-daily-mass-readings
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time – June 20, 2021
Welcome to the one hundred and sixty-ninth 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.
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 Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. (Year B) It has been stormy in Florida again this week. This is good news since we haven’t had much rain in months. It was also good because while the rest of the country has been suffering through temperatures in the 100s, our high for a few days was in the mid-80s. So, for us this week, the storms were a good thing, but not all storms are.
June 1st marked the beginning of hurricane season, and the scientists predict there is a 45 percent chance a major hurricane will strike Florida or the east coast, and a 44 percent chance of landfall anywhere from the Florida Panhandle to Texas along the Gulf Coast. Whether or not there are hurricanes in the region this summer is yet to be determined. But we can expect that in our lives there will always be storms, both literal and metaphorical. Our readings this Sunday give us a new perspective on how to deal with our storms, that is to trust in God.
A New Context
Our first reading from the Book of Job was just a snippet of when “the Lord, answered Job out of the storm.” (Job 38:1) Up to this point in the story, Job who was an upright man and had been blessed abundantly, lost everything—his family, his health, and his possessions. But he didn’t curse God, although he was naturally depressed because of his circumstances. His friends who came to console him essentially told him that he must have done something wrong, and God was punishing him for it. But Job was a righteous man and protested his innocence. He called on the Lord asking why he allowed this suffering. And in our first reading, God responded.
God took Job on a tour of all of creation and in point after point showed him how little he knew about it, let alone about God the Creator. In this speech, God never gave Job a direct answer to his question of why he had to suffer. Rather, as Bishop Barron says, “The Lord placed his profound hurt and heartache in an infinitely greater context—into his loving providence and within the rich complexity of his providence, he saw something else .”God’s view of the world is beyond space and time and within that context, suffering makes perfect sense. But we don’t have that view of the world, so we either question God’s love or trust in His divine providence.
Turning to God in the Storm
Years ago, I wrote an article for TwoTen Magazine about real estate executive Ed Kobel. His story came to mind as I was contemplating trusting God in the storm. During the early 1980s, through his real estate company, Ed Kobel and his wife Becky had developed $300 million worth of shopping centers and other large commercial projects. Then, the Tax Reform Act of 1986 dramatically changed the real estate industry and Ed and Becky found themselves upside down on $115 million worth of loans. Their accountants and lawyers advised them to file for bankruptcy and walk away from all that debt.
But that didn’t sound right to Ed and Becky, so they sought advice from God instead. They had no peace when they considered bankruptcy, so they decided to trust God’s lead and didn’t pursue that option. And then, everything got much worse.
So, they backed away from the anxiety and pressure of the problem and again went to the Lord to ask for help. Ed told me, “On an earthly sense, this was a BIG problem, but we got this exhilaration knowing we could call upon the God of the Universe, see the practical application of his Book and make it come alive in our life. The biggest part for us was listening to and trusting him.”
It took five years and every ounce of his spirit to work through all of the challenges but at the end of that journey, one where God had an incredible hand working in and through them, the Kobels paid back every penny of the millions they owed!
Exhausted, but out of debt, Ed was ready to abandon the real estate business and settle down in another career. He felt that he was at a crossroad in his life, and he knew that he had to rely on God’s direction. He cried out to God asking, “What would you like me to do?” The answer came the next day with a call from a friend who needed help financing a project. Ed contacted the person, got the project financed, and ended up owning 40 percent of a shopping center, and his business took off again.
Within a year, he headed to Wall Street to secure public funding. After a week of making cold calls and sharing his business plan with the major banks, Ed came home with two-term sheets—one from Lehman Brothers and one from Credit Suisse—totaling $500 million, and his business was reborn in a big way.
Years later, Ed asked Lehman Brothers why they lent money to him knowing what a failure his prior business had been. Their response was an affirmation to living according to God’s will. They told Ed that because he and Becky had worked hard to repay their debts instead of filing for bankruptcy, Lehman Brothers knew they could be trusted with their investment.
When we’re in the middle of a storm, it is natural to want to take the easy way out. It is natural to panic, as the disciples did. It is natural to feel abandoned by God and wonder if he doesn’t care. It is natural to only see the storm. But as Bishop Barron said, “We must not narrow our focus on our pain; we must rather open ourselves to ever greater trust.”
Preparing for the Storm
When hurricane season begins, we are reminded that it is a good idea to have supplies and a plan in the event a storm materializes. When a storm starts to develop and the forecasters share their “spaghetti maps” that project the hurricane’s possible paths, that’s when most people start to pay attention. Some will head to the store to buy water, batteries, and canned goods. But when the storm approaches, people start panic buying and the store shelves are empty. Days before projected landfall, plywood and gas can’t be found. Everyone is preparing for the storm. If you wait too long, you’re out of luck.
When life’s storms hit, if you haven’t prepared, you’re going to be out of luck too. Why? Because you’re not going to have built that trusting relationship with the Creator of the Universe to get you through. Going it alone and relying on yourself is a losing proposition.
On the other hand, when you’re accustomed to turning to God on a daily basis, for big and little decisions, for major and minor issues, you’ll know exactly what to do when the storm hits. You’ll not be terrified because you’ll have faith. It’s a lot easier to think clearly and respond rationally when you’re calm. With faith, Jesus will calm your storms.
There’s a Blessing in this Somewhere
One of the storms in my life was the year I was diagnosed with and treated for cancer. One of the first things I had to do was select the team of doctors I was going to rely on for my treatment. So, I turned to God and prayed for him to reveal them to me. I made an appointment with an oncologist and prayed that If he was the right person for me, I asked God to give me peace. If not, I asked that he make me anxious.
As my chemotherapy treatment progressed, I began having side effects that were concerning. My oncologist and I were discussing whether or not we should continue with the treatment protocol of twelve infusions or stop before it was finished because of the permanent damage the chemo might cause. So, I prayed again to God that he would provide my doctor with “clarity and peace” in the decision.
I could tell that my oncologist wanted to present me with the options so I could decide. But I told him that I had been praying for him since before I met him, and that God had given him to me to guide me through this process. All I asked was that he have clarity and peace in deciding to continue or to stop.
We met a week later when I was scheduled for my next round of chemo. I walked into his office, and he told me we were going to stop. He told me, “To use your words, I have clarity and peace, and I think we should stop.” That was seven years ago, and I am still cancer-free.
As much as I wanted to be in control of things that year, my doctors were directing the show. When I made plans around scheduled treatments and that schedule was disrupted by an infection or low blood count, I would confidently say to myself, “There’s a blessing in this somewhere!”, even though I didn’t know what blessing there might be. But I had prepared for the storm by attending daily Mass and receiving the Sacrament of the Sick. I trusted my doctors to take care of me because I first put my trust in God.
And was there a blessing in there somewhere? You bet! If you gave me the chance to redo that year without the storm of cancer I would say “No!” because even though I could exchange the many “yucky” days, I’d have to give back the many blessings, and I’m keeping them!
We never know, in God’s grand scheme of things how he plans to bless us, but when you know and trust him, you recognize his hand in it. For Ed Kobel, the blessings didn’t end with a financial turnaround for his business. God had another plan in store, that in hindsight is pretty amazing.
Healing a Family
Because Ed demonstrated integrity in paying back the loans, he developed a relationship with Lehman Brothers. Through the relationship with Lehman Brothers, Ed was presented with an opportunity to invest in a technology company that provided solutions to the National Football League. Although he wasn’t a “football” guy, he knew of someone who was—the five-time Super Bowl-winning owner of the San Francisco 49ers, Eddie DeBartolo.
Ed and Eddie shared a bond that only Ed was aware of. He had a brother who didn’t know he existed. When this opportunity came up, Ed decided to write Eddie a letter to see if he knew anything about this technology company and he referenced a gentleman who could vouch for him. Upon checking the reference, Eddie learned that Ed was his brother. That’s when Eddie called Ed and said, “We have to meet!”
When he reflected on that first meeting, Ed told me, “I remember my brother saying, ‘I’ve won five Super Bowls and had many accomplishments in business, and I’ve never been more nervous for a meeting in my life!’” And Ed told him, “I haven’t had any of those accomplishments, but I am still pretty nervous.” After a lifetime apart, God healed a family that day.
Over the next year, the Kobels and DeBartolos got to know each other as family, and Ed and Eddie did a few business deals together. Within two years, Eddie invited the Kobels to move to Tampa to form a partnership in the real estate business, DeBartolo Development, of which Ed is currently president and COO.
Outrageous Blessings
You can read about more of the outrageous twists and turns of Ed Kobel’s life in the full article I wrote about him. I admit, it is hard to believe, but Ed told me, “You can’t even make this stuff up!” He said he has a whole drawer full of examples of things that God has given when he stepped out in faith.
God has outrageous plans for our lives too. We just have to turn to him and trust him. Let’s ask him to help us:
God of all Creation, you fashioned heaven and earth, the sea and sky, and all creatures of the world. You are the master of the seasons, and all of the elements obey your commands. Even in all of your glory and greatness, you remain faithful to those who call on your name. Be with us as we weather the many storms of our lives. Send your Spirit over the waters as you did at the dawn of time. Speak your Word to calm our hearts and strengthen our faith in your divine providence so that we may glorify you in our storms. We ask this in the name of Jesus who calmed the waves and is ever-present in the storms we endure. Amen
May God abundantly bless you as you weather your storms this week and may you glorify the Lord by your life.
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