Ordinary Time, 25th Sunday (B) I have a dream, that the clergy and parish staff here in Antigo will become an awesome team! I also dream that each parish will work together as a team and that the three parishes can team up together. In order to make team work, we need to overcome the Five Dysfunctions of a Team:

5. Inattention to results
4. Avoidance of accountability
3. Lack of commitment
2. Fear of conflict
1. Absence of trust

Building trust, according to Patrick Lencioni, requires a willingness to be vulnerable within the group. We have to be genuinely open with each other about our own failures and weaknesses. There are five corresponding steps to good teamwork:

1. Trust that the other person's intentions are good.
2. Good healthy conflict about the best way to achieve our goals.
3. Commit to decisions and plans of actions.
4. Hold one another accountable to delivering against those plans.
5. Focus on the achievement of collective results.

Jesus wants his Apostles to be a team. But rivalries and jealousies are undermining the team. So Jesus explains to them that leadership is really service. Jesus is willing to trust his Father so much that he's not afraid to be vulnerable. Picture having Jesus' arms wrapped around you. Does it matter who is the greatest when God is hugging you? I am poor, weak, and vulnerable. But God loves me, and there's nothing else I need.

(19 Sep 2021)

Going Deeper: Do you recognize your family, workplace, or church more on the "dysfunctions" list or the "teamwork" list? Are you able to be honest and vulnerable, or are you waiting for others to do it first?

Oriens 2021 is available now for pre-order.