Holy Spirit Catholic Church
Homilies
Archive
16th Sunday of
Ordinary Time
July 19, 2009
The first Rotary Club was formed in Chicago by attorney Paul P. Harris on February 23, 1905. The first meeting was with just four friends: Harris, Silvester Schiele, a coal merchant; Gustave Loehr, a mining engineer; and Hiram Shorey, a tailor. The four chose to call their little club "Rotary" because the weekly club meetings rotated among the members' offices. The four men had done very well in their careers, and together they felt the need to give back to the community because the community had been so good to them. Their motto was, and Rotary’s primary motto remains "Service Above Self."
By 1925, what these men started had expanded to 200 clubs on six continents with over 20,000 members. During the Great Depression, Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor suggested a test to be used as a set of guidelines for restoring faltering businesses. In 1942, it became the standard of ethics for all of Rotary International and is now known as "The Four-Way Test." It is worth noting this test in light of ethical failures in banks and corporations that helped create today's economic problems.
The four questions of "The Four-Way Test":
· Is it the truth?
· Is it fair to all concerned?
· Will it build good will and better friendships?
· Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
"Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture!" The warning made by the Lord through Jeremiah should make leaders in all walks of life and in any capacity sit up and take notice. Every leader, whether in government or business, a big-time CEO or a crew leader in a fast food restaurant,
the principal of a school or a student council member, a parent or an older sibling, is a shepherd of sorts. Each must lead and protect. Each has a responsibility to and for others.
Unfortunately, too many now rank "the company" more important than the people who serve the company. One 90-year-old, in recalling the Great Depression, remembers his boss dissolving into tears when business was so slow he had to lay off employees. There was no anger from the employees because they knew that their boss truly cared for them and had done everything he could to keep them working. This can hardly be said today. This particular boss, the 90-year-old recalled, made sure that every former employee could buy anything the store sold at cost until they could get back on their feet. This is shepherding!
God condemned the leaders of Israel because they had put power and their country ahead of the country's citizens and even ahead of God. Jeremiah's recommendation had been radical. He had prophesied that the king should let the country fall to Babylon peacefully for the sake of the people. God would never let the Chosen People get lost in defeat. The country might be occupied, but the people would be safe, and their faith would ultimately save them.
Unfortunately for Jeremiah his prophecies were seen as traitorous, and several attempts were made on his life. In the end he had been right. If the kings had put the people first, if the kings had listened to God's word, the people would have been safe. Instead, when inevitable defeat came, the people of Jerusalem were sent into exile in Babylon.
Jesus and the Apostles needed time for rest and reflection after the Apostles returned from their first missionary effort. Though excited, they were exhausted both physically and emotionally. Further, they had not seen one another for quite a while. These friends and companions needed their time, but people still needed them. Despite personal need, Jesus was moved to pity. He always put people first.
From a certain point of view, every curse can be seen as a blessing in disguise. The curse of the economic situation today can become the blessing of causing us to return to the values that God has offered us. Jeremiah made clear that if we would trust God...meaning that we choose to live the way God has asked us, regardless of challenge and difficulty…we will always land on our feet. The 23rd Psalm puts into beautiful poetry the benefits of trusting God.
Perhaps we should all take the Four-Way Test. Perhaps it should be the guidelines not only for restoring failed ethics and business, but in restoring Divine values because it puts a premium on the same things as God: truth and service. We might discover the truth that comes directly from the Scriptures: "They profit most who serve best." It is the secondary motto of Rotary International.
Jeremiah made clear that if we would trust God we will always land on our feet. Perhaps we should use the Four-Way Test...
· Is it the truth?
· Is it fair to all concerned?
· Will it build good will and better friendships?
· Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
…to restore failed ethics and businesses, and to restore the values of truth and service!