“What’s on your agenda today?” Each morning I start the day with a fresh slate. Then at the end of the day I pause to reflect, and count it good when most of the important items are done.
With no time wasted and no task undone, Jesus clearly had a mission—an agenda—for his life. So what was most important to him? Not the favor of the Pharisees. Not the keeping of the rules. In today’s gospel, the most important agenda item for Jesus was the man who stood before him. And that can be a hard lesson for me. Perhaps the most important item on my agenda this Labor Day will not be a “what” but a “who”— my spouse, my child, my co-worker, my friend, the stranger that I meet. My encounters today may matter more than all the other things I accomplish. So I ask, “Who’s on your agenda today?”
—Howard Craig is the provincial assistant for Advancement on behalf of the Chicago-Detroit and Wisconsin provinces of the Society of Jesus.