In a homily Jan. 10, Pope Francis offered two practical tips for how we can track whether or not we are living Jesus’ admonition to love our neighbor. His remarks were prompted by the day’s first reading, 1 John 4:20: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar.” The pope said it’s important to challenge ourselves to love others because the devil is defeated by Christians loving their brothers and sisters. So how do we know whether we are loving or hating our neighbor? Pope Francis said the first test is to ask: “Do I pray for people?”...

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If you’re concerned about Keeping Christ in Christmas, a good way to get started on the right path in our home is to celebrate St. Nicholas Day. It’s observed on Dec. 6 in Western Christian countries and on Dec. 19 in Eastern Christian countries. St. Nicholas, of course, is the inspiration for our modern Santa Claus. But he was also a bishop who was known for his generosity in looking out for the poor. Observing his feast day is easy. In the U.S., parents generally have their children leave their shoes outside their bedroom doors or hang their Christmas stockings (a great activity to combine with putting ...

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We all celebrated Thanksgiving. Then many of us capped off our celebration by jumping into Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. That was followed by Small Business Saturday, where we were asked to combine our Christmas shopping chores with a special concern for the goods and services offered by small businesses. After getting Sunday off – presumably to worship the Source of all our resources – we were greeted by Cyber Monday, when we’re encouraged to shop online. Now comes Giving Tuesday, a day set aside to share our blessings with those who are working on our behalf to make this a be...

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At our 1-day Encounters, where we introduce people to the Catholic Vision for Leading Like Jesus with a transformational experience of live presentations, videos, large and small group discussions and personal discovery exercises, we always give participants the last word. The only report card we issue is a form that asks participants to evaluate how well we’ve done serving them. It’s often a pleasure and always a learning experience to review their ratings, and I know all of us Facilitators who present these programs gravitate to the participants’ comments to discover what we did well and how we can i...

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Come Thanksgiving, it's a habit of speech for us to say, "I'm grateful for so many things." But that phrase has always troubled me. You see, it's not "things" for which I am most grateful. Today I found a solution. I want to proclaim from the rooftops that I'm grateful for so many reasons, And the greatest reasons l'm grateful are the many wonderful people in my life -- family, friends and colleagues. Thank you! Bless you! And I'm grateful, too, for my own life. Each moment, each breath is a wonderful gift from God. Whatever time I have here on earth, I shouldn't...

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As Thanksgiving approaches, we're grateful for Pope Francis, who has spoken of leadership at varoius times in terms of servant, steward and shepherd -- our own S3 Framework.  Prayers for him in Africa this week: he arrived in Kenya today (Nov. 25), goes to Uganda Friday, Central African Republic Sunday. Hope he is as well-received there as he was here in U.S.  

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  Chances are you’re familiar with the nine habits we endorse in S3 Leadership. Well now comes H3 Leadership – where Brad Lomenick comes up with three questions he says every leader ask to ask himself or herself, as well as 20 habits leaders need to cultivate. Although Lomenick’s approach is mostly secular, it’s amazing how similar his perspective is to our own Catholic Vision for Leading Like Jesus. See for yourself what he has to offer. READ MORE

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  Catholic News Service recently reported on the experience of Jesuit Father Hernan Paredes, who in the early 1980s had a roommate who “was ready to do our laundry, ready to cook for us ... ready to embrace us, cry with us.” If you guessed that his roommate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was also his superior and went on to become Pope Francis, go to the head of the class. “It’s servant leadership, doing things for others and helping others,” said Father Paredes, an Ecuadorean native now teaching at Loyola School in New York’s Upper East Side. “If he asked you to do it, ...

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Father David Beauvais, Dick Kunnert and Dr. Owen Phelps will facilitate a Catholic Vision for Leading Like Jesus Encounter workshop on Friday, Nov. 6, at Katie’s Cup, 502 7th Street, in Rockford, IL. The Encounter is the Yeshua Institute’s flagship program for teaching laity, religious and clergy how to be Jesus-Like S3 Leaders at home, at work, in their parishes and in their communities. The deadline to register is Oct. 30. “Everyone is a leader some of the time – at home, work, in all your relationships. So no matter what your stage of spiritual development, this biblically-based program wil...

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Welcome to our new website. We’re really excited about it and we hope you share our excitement. If you’re a frequent visitor we know it will take you a little time to find your way around – just as it’s taking us a little time too. But we think the look and power of this new site is worth a little time getting used to. We’re delighted with the new look and we hope you like it too. As for the power of the new site, that’s not readily apparent and it won’t be until we learn a bit more about how to make use of that power. Then we hope you like what you see in that regard too. Bu...

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