Find the Mission, and the Means Will Come
“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.” – Muhammad Ali
Over the Easter weekend, my wife and I, joined by our daughter Helena and her boyfriend, decided to venture out to the city and enjoy a movie at the theater. We heard great things about Cabrini, so our choice on this Good Friday was an easy one.
Although I was expecting Cabrini to be a terrific movie, especially because it was inspired by real life events, I was a bit unsure how it would captivate our attention for the scheduled 2.5 hours.
Let me start by saying that the movie was touching and impressive. Even if just 30% of the facts were real, the struggles Mother Cabrini and her traveling Sisters had to endure were unbelievable, but their focus on doing God’s work was so strong that nothing would stop them from making advances, however minor they were.
Find the Mission
While living in Italy, Mother Cabrini made it her life goal to help abandoned children and to establish orphanages that would give these left-behind children a place to live, food, education, and perhaps most importantly, the love of others.
However, Mother Cabrini had a larger mission to expand her work worldwide, starting in China. After pleading with the Pope, he finally relented and asked her to begin international work providing necessary assistance to Italian immigrants in New York City.
Knowing she had a huge (and largely impossible) endeavor ahead of her, the Pope asked Mother Cabrini how she expected to have success, and without hesitation, she responded …
“Find a mission, and the means will come.”
The Means Will Come
Now, I won’t go much further into the movie so I do not spoil it for any of you who plan to watch it in the near future, and I’m sure it will be streaming in a home theater near you soon.
Sister Cabrini’s relentless mindset provides me with a terrific learning opportunity. There are times when I make excuses about things that are challenging, and I sometimes will put them aside because I don’t want to make the necessary effort and commitment.
In fact, many of us do this. We may be stuck in difficult situations related to finances, relationships, or careers. We know the best course of action is to start doing something else, but we are unwilling to define a clear mission of what to do next.
In fact, if you ask most people, they fail to entertain a mission because they are afraid of what might happen.
In short, the unknown consequences keep most people frozen in their tracks.
Mother Cabrini never stopped pursuing her mission, and she eventually founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In total, she started 67 missionary institutions worldwide, and she was canonized in 1946.
As we walked out into the San Antonio evening after the movie, her words of wisdom resonated with me … “Find a mission, and the means will come.”
Perhaps these words resonate even more with me today because my mission in life is much different from when I was younger (Back in the ME world!).
It has nothing to do with exploring adventurous career opportunities.
Instead, I look forward to using my skills and abilities to make the lives of others just a little better.
Inspiring Quotes
“Give your hands to serve, and your hearts to love.” – Mother Teresa
“There are many wonderful things that will never be done if you don’t do them.” – Charles Gill
Homework Inquiry
During the next week, here’s your homework inquiry: How will you give of yourself to be of service to others?
I use this opportunity to share with you a unique story and a couple inspiring quotes. Oh ... as a professor at heart, you guessed it, I have a homework inquiry for you. This is a powerful question that might just trigger you to take action on something that really matters in your life. If you feel the Catalyst Newsletter brings benefit to you.