Do you want to please people all the time? Are you more afraid of peoples’ reactions to what you do or say than speaking the truth in love? - Daily Reflections September 16,2015

ARE YOU A PEOPLE PLEASER?

 

In more than 21 years of being a priest, I have discovered there are many fundamental truths of ministry that are not subject to change. One of them is that it is impossible to please all the people all the time. And the biggest problem in trying to do this is that the person who is least fulfilled is one’s self.

       When we study the ministry of Jesus, we see that His main concern is doing the will of His Father and the truth, not pleasing people. In fact, His ministry often leads Him into conflict with the Jewish leaders. This never stops Jesus from doing what He knows is needed in order to remain faithful to the Gospel — to His Father’s will.

       In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us He is resigned to the fact that there will be people who will reject His ministry. The same is true for us, but we cannot allow this rejection to cause us to give up. I love what a priest friend says to himself, like a mantra, whenever he faces adversity: Never give up; never give up; never give up! His other attitude is whenever something doesn’t seem to work, then he simply tries harder. In other words, “When something doesn’t seem to fit, push harder!”

       We need to persevere through adversity and difficulties in order to reach the victory on the other side. We cannot do this without the grace of God. We also have the example of Jesus’ life, where He simply pushes through challenging times, including His own death, trusting that the Father will ensure the victorious outcome — His resurrection from the dead, the definitive victory over sin and death.

       Living the Christian life is not easy. We will come up against people who won’t like what we are doing. Let us not allow trials to bring us down but see in our trials the opportunity for God to demonstrate His power to triumph over adversity. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Do you want to please people all the time? Are you more afraid of peoples’ reactions to what you do or say than speaking the truth in love?

 

Father, help me to love the truth in my life and always embrace it no matter how other people may react.