Be charitable, of goodwill and orthodox
This could be an interesting title to many, especially when I use the word orthodox. Many in out modern society do not understand the meaning of this word. The Greek root of orthos means straight or right. The opposite would be considered heterodox, meaning opinion or other in the Greek root of heteros. These words have challenged me over the years to understand what is truth and fact, verses subjective opinions that often lead to other divisive ways which break the family of God (humanity) apart. In the spirit of Pope Francis’ passing, I thought this was a perfect blog to write, I wanted to properly discern my words so I can share how this not only relates to life, but also business.
On Holy Thursday, Jesus reunited the 12 lost/divided tribes of Israel over that meal of thanksgiving, in Greek eucharistia, founding One, Holy Universal body of people, united through the teachings of the Apostles. Many do not realize that the corporate structures of the world are inspired by this great institute and it’s foundations. Sadly we often worship these corporations, instead of simply honoring the good they do in society by providing work, services and goods for others, hopefully ethically. This is the point of the blog however, often these corporations start out with good intentions, but stray from the “orthodoxy” of their original path, to the heterodoxy of the world. One small example is how Wall Street, political pressures or some other form of distraction will steer them away from their original mission, eventually leading to division and sometimes, but often failure.
With this foundation I want to get to the heart of the matter, which can and will lead to radical change, for the good of everyone, not just those of a political nature, something I’ve grown increasing skeptical of over the years. As I watch any political movement in society, someone is often left out and marginalized. First and foremost, we must be of goodwill. We demonize many things in society for the small amount we have in difference, verses the majority we share in common. Old me for example would’ve bad mouthed almost every coffeeshop because they don’t do exactly what I am doing. New me wants to talk about the good that they all do, whatever it maybe and appreciate what they are trying to do in their local communities, since they often have good intentions with the community gathering spot they are trying to offer.
Second I would like to talk about orthodoxy. This special word is why the Catholic Church has stood unified for 2000 years, since the death of Jesus on the Cross. One may have an opinion of divisions over the years, although true, orthodoxy has always corrected the crooked ways of the human condition. Many do not understand this is where the word queer derives from, something every human being suffers through original sin, not just a select group of people ostracized in society. However when we look at the early orthodox teachings, people like myself, who thought everything was subjective, became less confused and realized there are objective truths.
How does this tie into business? It’s pretty simple, if you have a product, i.e. coffee, and you start to focus too much on something else that isn’t your core product, for example I start selling too many pre packed items from the local wholesale store just to make a quick buck. I will eventually become something less unique and more like a convenience store. Once that happens, people will think and rightfully believe I’m just serving over priced coffee. As my base erodes, I would cheapen my product for profits, and eventually lose my original identity. This is the typical cycle of growth I see in the USA primarily since we are a rapidly evolving society. You name an industry, and we can look at the product over a 50 year period, very rarely is it as good as it was 50 years ago, sometimes just 10 years. I saw this in the pizza industry often, and continue to see it everywhere. I try to be an authentic counter to this culture. There’s always a struggle in respect of growth too, there are times for streamlining and evolving, with proper discernment. The Catholic Church fights this battle regularly with Her worship in liturgy, what is necessary, and God given through Jesus Christ, verses what is just a man made tradition and needs to be done to serve the people during that time in history.
This brings me to the example of the now deceased, Pope Francis. I would like to close with a reflection of the impact of his life as Pope Francis, and charity, aka the virtue of loving God and neighbor. If one honestly studies the life of Pope Francis, they would see he tried his best in a very divisive and polarized world. To begin if we read his words directly from Vatican news sources, and not from the bias scopes of different media sources whatever end of the spectrum they are on, we see a man who always held onto the orthodox truths of the Catholic Church. This often offended those who thought he might change the rules of the Church as a progressive pope, reality is he was just progressive in his approach with sympathy and empathy. However he would also offended the Pharisees of our modern culture, that rigidly observed the church often leaving no room for the true mercy of God, offered to all of us crooked sinners.
How again does this apply to business, everyone is a potential customer, just as everyone has the potential to get to heaven, even at the last minute, like St. Dismas on the cross next to Jesus. What if we were radically charitable, while still running a great business. I mean this in a very small mustard seed way. In my pizza days, I was told it is theft if I gave my employee a pizza for their efforts since it wasn’t my product (despite being told to take ownership of my store). I also experienced this if I gave away an extra sauce cup or two because the company wanted to make ever penny count throughout the country. I’m sure you experience this in many places now days. Something that costs 20 cents to produce, is treated like millions of dollars, which technically it is, but eventually customers go somewhere else when they are pinched for nickels and dimes. This results in loss of millions that are often overlooked. Ironically the Church suffers similar loses. The petty reasons people stop attending Mass with their community and family of believers are usually kind disappointing, but we are sensitive humans at times, myself included (I was away for 15 years due to misconceptions). However I would also challenge the other side like Pope Francis and ask for mercy in these moments, as its usually not worth the division of the family of God.
My final thoughts on charity, which I have shared struggles with myself, and I was reminded of this yesterday I must confess. Pope Francis (I’m paraphrasing) once said about giving money to a person in need, give and trust God. Very often now I patiently wait if the person in need approaches me, and as long as I have something that invokes awareness of God, usually my holy card I give something always, minimum 3 dollars to invoke The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. This also happens when I am selling coffee, but this is where I still fall short and try to be more charitable. For example the previous week a man who shared he’s just trying to maintain, and acknowledged clear signs of mental illness came and expressed wanting a cup. At first I didn’t fully comprehend if he was trying to buy something or not and he eventually walked away. Thankfully God gave me a second chance and I just made him something for his day and gave it to him “as a gift”. Sure enough I saw him the following week, and he wasn’t bothering me as my insecurity previously thought he might. With that said I had multiple people asks for samples yesterday who clearly came to treat the market like Costco.
This honestly challenges me, because as a one person business, just like a parish priest, you need to focus on your people and care for them first, as many other things can be distracting. With that said, God truly tested me, and interiorly I failed whether or not one customer noticed. A man came up, who I knew wasn’t a person in need, but because of the repetitive request for samples, I had interior tensions. I gave him a small reluctant sample. He ordered a cup and then his sister who was a regular customer came up and introduced her brother.
Ironically he was a Catholic priest, that served as a military chaplain, but was in street clothes, and it was my first time meeting him, that I recall. As I truly take a moment to reflect on this, it’s moving to think of the gospel, whatever you do for the least, you do for me. I FAILED in my heart in this moment, when someone shared Jesus’ spirit on the Cross saying “I THIRST”. It was a humble reminder to show mercy to all, because you never know who you are in the presence of. We had a nice exchange despite my interior disposition, and he thanked me for my ministry. I responded with my favorite quote that I say in confession when I am finished “keep up the good work father”.
In close this is a reminder, every little bit counts, and since September 5, 2023 I was further challenged on this, upon completing Mother Teresa’s documentary on her feast day. My wife and I have done what we can over the years, she often says I do more, but in all reality, We do a lot, together. With her work, she allows me to be the charitable arm of our family. It should not be overshadowed that she supports our diocese and parish structure far greater than I, but in my apostolate I’m actively scattering seeds of hope, as Pope Francis declared especially in this “Year of Hope”.
I want to close with a final thought of faith and hope, most of all staying true to a vision, that little ways, can lead to big miracles. Many of you have probably heard of “The Chosen”, it’s a free series, that is also commercial free, offered through an app, and now in a larger and various ways. Dallas Jenkins the producer wanted to share the life of Jesus with everyone, in an impactful way, and figured out a way to do it with out they typical monetary ways of the entertainment industries, which can compromise a project for profits. As season 5 wrapped up, the producers vision is full blown, inspiring millions and billions in a very short time. One of his greatest allies is Jonathan Roumie, the actor that carries the burden of portraying Jesus. It’s a burden that he humbly bears, since he knows the magnitude of portraying God, something he is challenged with daily, but humbly accepts to share a message of life changing hope (which is salvation/healing/new life).
I bring this up, because I wanted to tie all these things together, first the success of the Chosen, which has gone through a strenuous process of offering an authentic Jesus, that universally connects to everyone without compromising orthodox truth. In addition I recently took a trip with UNBOUND, which I found out out, despite so many sponsors, I’m actually only part of less than 1% that goes on an awareness trip to meet the person they sponsor. Jonathan Roumie, also recently took part in this after sponsoring his child for nearly 4 years. Here is another link to more information on his connection to the organization.
The tie in most of all is in response to honor the life and legacy of Pope Francis, to care or the poor, most vulnerable and marginalized. Just like all the examples I initially failed at, I came to better realize hope and trust like St. Therese of Lisieux, little ways will create big miracles. Whether it’s simply giving someone a cup of something to drink on the street and decades later they say “do you remember me?” Or to the eventual sharing in the heavenly banquet on earth as it is in heaven (The Eucharist), I trust and give within reason. I experience this regularly with my openness to charity. I sometimes wonder am I having an impact, then God will send a messenger to encourage me of something I did at the right moment to help another. As I shared in my visit to Guatemala, this happened with both of the people I sponsored too.
In close, Pope Francis chose his name in honor of St. Francis, as to not forget the poor. Please consider researching some charities. This is something my uncle challenged me on early on in my return to the church, and my previous criticism. He would point out Catholic Charities donates nearly 90% of every dollar to the cause. This is why when someone asks my wife or myself, what can I get for Brandon as a gift, we respond that I have everything I need, please give to Catholic Charities, who need resources more than me. If you study most charities, few attain to this.
During Lent last year, I discovered UNBOUND, which uses 90.2% of every dollar for the cause and actually joyfully maintains this spirit of giving, like the founder Bob Hentzen, who I learned during my travels walked 12,000 miles to raise awareness for the poor and inspire sponsors. Due to my passion of promoting good causes, like the Catholic Church and faith, I recently was approached of becoming an ambassador for the non-profit, due to my sharing of my experiences during my travels, something I genuinely like to do with anything in life. My ultimate motive is helping others without personal gain being my motive, and usual inspiration. I share small glimpses only for others inspirations. For example I am not a coffee equipment provider, I just research and share what works, since now days everyone is trying to get you to buy something, so they can get a percentage off of you and that can skew ethical judgement.
Please consider researching UNBOUND further through my personal link unbound.org/BrandonB but most of all in the spirit of Pope Francis, put love into action through mercy and watch the world around you improve every day as you plant seeds of hope which will build momentum to the real change we all seek. Below is Catholic News Agency’s interview with Jonathan Roumie’s experience with his UNBOUND awareness visit.
Pope Francis, pray for us that we may get in the trenches of those in need, and smell like the flock in our efforts.