Dare Great Things

When most people speak about leadership today, they mean it in the context of business.  And there are ample examples of great leadership in the world of business, and ample examples of Catholics who have typified that same leadership in the world of business.  But I’d like to focus us today on the reflection of a great Saint who was not a business leader but in fact the Pope, Pope St. John Paul II, and see how his life teaches us about Catholic leadership.

Today, leadership requires courage.  In times like ours it’s easier to stop rather than to keep going.  But what’s the secret to courage?  In the lives of the saints we find many examples of courageous leadership.  But in the life of St. Stanislaus, Bishop of Krakow, there is a special lesson that speaks to each one of us: the strength of consistent integrity.

I think that most of us feel that when you do something heroic you should be recognized for it.  Almost like, “Good heroes usually win.”  In the story of St. John Bosco, however, this was not the case.  He had to defend himself, work hard, be under appreciated, and make his case boldly in a situation where people did not believe in him, or make it easy for him.  His is a story of true heroism.    

Courageous leadership requires courageous leaders.  And that’s what we find in the lives of many Saints, but few saints excel in the areas of zeal and apostolic labors like Saint Junipero Serra.  I’d like to look at his life in particular because it reminds us of the urgency to both spread the Gospel and the willingness to lay down our lives in order to make this happen.  Obviously this is something that we can apply to all the calls of God in our lives.

All of us are inspired by the lives of Saints.  I think it is important that we remember, though, that Saints come in all different stripes.  Some are poor and destitute and others come from lives of affluence.  What makes Saints great is not their background but how they use it for the love of God.  In today’s Saint, St. Catherine Drexel we learn the surprising story of a young woman of wealth who becomes holy for others.

When you read the lives of the Saints you can get the impression that things were pretty easy for them.  Afterall, they’re the Saints!  It looks like their lives just kind of roll along and they do wonderful things for God.  A far cry from what we have to go through.  When you read the life of Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini that impression can change.  This was a woman of terrific courage who faced amazing hardships and endured.

Heroes come in all sizes and stripes.  We are well versed in the lives of heroic priests and bishops in the Catholic church.  But not many of realize the heroism intrinsic in America women saints.  One of the most amazing of them is St. Marianne Cope.  I want to tell you about her life and her example of courageous leadership.

Fr. Nathan's series on courageous leaders to inspire us during difficult times!  Part 1 discusses the courage of St. Damien of Molokai.

There are many things that make us stop as leaders.  Things that keep us from doing that job that we’re here to do.  One of those biggest things is our fear of death.  How amazing then to follow Jesus Christ who came in order to die and to save us through His death.  What lessons does that hold for you and me today

I think all of us agree that preaching the Gospel is a good thing.  I think all of us actually understand that that forms the heart of our faith.  But I don’ think all of us understand how we who are engaged in the world in secular business and in professions can actually be expected to preach the Gospel.  What does it look like for a Catholic business leader or professional to preach the Gospel?

It goes without saying that leadership’s greatest problem doesn’t come from outside conditions but rather from working with people.  From ourselves and our own inadequacies to the various ways that the people we work with can perform well – or not.  If we could learn how to master the human heart, then everything else would fall into place.  The good news is that’s exactly what Christ came to do.  

Most people dread conflict.  It’s a simple fact.  In the life of a leader, however, conflict is necessary.  As a matter of fact many leadership organizational models teach you to mine for conflict – try to find it out and flush it out.  But is this really the role that Christ wants us to play as Christians?  When can conflict be healthy?  When is it to be avoided at all costs?  What does Christ have to say about this?  

Of all the sayings of Christ, His prohibition against judgement is one that has perplexed many for a long time.  Judging essential for leadership.  It is essential for living.  Then why would Christ forbid it?  What does this mean for us today?

For many Christians today, obedience is one of the hardest things to master.  Afterall, what exactly is its value?  Why should we try and inculcate a spirit of obedience?  How do we keep from being obedient and servile at the same time?  Christ speaks in John 6 of how He came to do the will of the Father and how this will of the Father is a good thing.  Let’s listen to His word.

Christians are called to live the life of Christ on Earth and to continue his saving mission in their businesses, in their families, and in their communities.  Christ’s mission as he puts it in John 10 is to come to bring us life and in fact and abundant life.  How do we implement that in our families, in our businesses, and in our world?

Christianity means that we belong to Christ as members of His body and that means that we extend his mission through our own body, our own space, and time.  What is the mission of Christ.  One of the reasons He says He came to this world was to seek and to save what is lost.  If we are to be faithful to our mission we need to do the same.

Serving others is a bit of a paradox.  To some it is an exaggerated title of glory, to others it is the worst of things – being demoted in the eyes of others.  What does it mean to serve as a Christian?  How did our Lord serve us?  If we understand how Christ served us we can find the dignity in serving others.

We all know that Christianity is a religion of peace.  We long for that peace and we long to bring that peace to the world.  What then could Our Lords have meant when he spoke in Matthew 10:25 of His mission to bring a sword?  What does that mean for you and I in our own Christian lives?  How is it that our leadership brings both peace and a sword?

We’re looking at the moments when our Lord reveals what His mission is.  By seeing His mission we better understand our own.  In John 18:33-38, our Lord speaks with Pontius Pilate about His mission.

Everybody wants to be authentic, but are we willing to pay the price?  What does authenticity really look like from leadership today?  Will people even respect it?  In the fourth of our series on the speeches of St. Paul in the Acts of The Apostles, we look at St. Paul’s speech in Jerusalem before the crowd that will eventually imprison him.  It is a speech in which he bears witness to the truth of his faith.