Men's Rosary

Why do we do what we do? Who are we trying to please? Many times, the answers to these questions are based on what others expect of us or what we perceive it is that others expect and approve of. We follow the career path or business path of our families, attend the schools our parents attended, the list can be endless. The goal of this behavior is to please the other, to be found acceptable in their eyes. Sometimes we do things simply to please ourselves. We do what we think is going to make us the most successful and esteemed among our peers. All these things we do to please man and assume that we will find fulfillment and happiness.

The truth is that we were not created to do any of this. In Catholic theology, we are to please God alone. Accordingly, all that we do should be to this end. Fear of the Lord will bring us fulfillment and happiness, while fear of man will bring us away from the Lord and provide a false sense of fulfillment and happiness that will lead to our demise. “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” (Proverbs 29:25)

When we try to please man, we are “chasing our tails”. The approval of man is futile in that the world has ever shifting opinions and praises of human beings. When we seek to please God, we are looking at an unchanging reality. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) It is of immense importance that we consider our actions and who it is we strive to please. We must align our actions with and make our focus on pleasing God alone and trusting in him no matter what happens. We please God through a living faith, bringing him into all that we do and the decisions we make; in loving others as ourselves, in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It is not that we do not want to please others in our life and action, but rather that it is not the driving force in our life. In pleasing God through an active life of faith; making that the driving force and focus of our life, we can please others. Perhaps not all but many. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.” (1 Corinthians 10:31-33)

In our work and businesses, we must base our decisions on our Christian values. Compromise is not an option for financial gain. In our behavior; in private, public, and social media, we must live out Christian virtue. How would we act if Jesus were there with us? Well, he is! Our behavior must build up others and not tear down. It should invite people to Christ, not drive them away. Our recreation should be congruent with our beliefs. Attention must be given to the movies, music, books, company, and other exposure we subject ourselves to, careful that they nourish the soul and do no harm to it. Do our homes let those entering it know that we are followers of Christ, that our faith is central to who we are? Living a life committed to pleasing God is hard and it will challenge others. We will find that man will tear us down rather than lift himself up. However, in the scheme of things there is little to lose; a friend (so-called at best), a job, a client. We will find real friends. We can find other jobs and new clients. The alternative is to please man at the expense of pleasing God. Here there is much to lose; eternal life and in its place spiritual death. Detachment from the world view and the opinion of man and living a life centered on God and pleasing him will come with a cross to bear. We will be reviled. But we must meet that with the resolve to stay the course and pray for those who revile us. We must love even those who would seem to be our enemy. In following Christ’s example in dealing with those who persecute us we will please God and we will also bring others to him. “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:23)

“The best defense of a good reputation is to ignore gossip and let your good character do the speaking.” (St. Francis de Sales)