Photo courtesy of Paul Schiller

April 5, 2026

Shortly before the Lenten season began, I picked up a copy of “The Magnificat Lenten Companion” book at an area church.

It included a reflection for each day between Ash Wednesday and today, Easter Sunday.

Admittedly, I sometimes found myself playing catch-up reading through them, but I remembered more days than not. And one particular reflection has stuck with me so much that I thought it was worth sharing, regardless of what, if any, faith you practice in your own life.

The priest that particular day wrote of a time earlier in his priesthood when an older priest had given him some advice.

“You have the care of souls,” he said. “That’s the big show. Everything else is a sideshow. Focus on the big show.”

The big show.

Yes, it can apply to this priest’s ultimate vocation or own spiritual journeys.

But it works an awful lot of other places, too, doesn’t it?

Think about your own work or workplace. What’s your “big show?” Name it, and then it likely won’t take long for you to recognize, as I did, all the other sideshows threatening to distract you from it.

Think about it outside of work in terms of the relationships that matter most. And then recognize all the sideshows that sometimes cause us not to focus on them.

I’m not sure there ever has been a time with so many ultimately meaningless sideshows. Maybe you spend much of your day dealing with them — the workplace dramas, online vitriol, constant digital stimulation or a news cycle that amplifies absurdity.

They all take our eyes off the big show, whatever that looks like for each of us.

Most businesses I cover that are in trouble got there for exactly this reason. They failed to focus on the big things and let themselves get caught up in the tangential ones.

It’s simple advice, not the easiest to execute, but I thought worthy of some recognition and reflection.

And not a bad message for an Easter Sunday, either: Don’t get caught up in the sideshows. Focus on the big show.