My father used to tell the story of a heroic baseball player whose manager told him to hit a sacrifice fly and drive in three runs on the loaded bases. The man got up to bat and hit a grand slam home run driving in three RBI’s and himself. The ecstatic crowd cheered as the slugger rounded the bases. However, when he reached home plate, he met the manager standing there angry and tapping his foot in disgust. He imposed a fine upon the baseball hero. The star carried out a powerful act, but he did not do what the manager asked him to do. He did not act as a team player.

The spiritual life is rife with learning what is our own will and what is God’s will and trying to discern which we will do. We may do some heroic things, but is this God wants us to do? The world needs its famous people, but it also needs the unsung heroes as well. The movie star may get all the attention, but he or she is nothing without the factory worker who helps manufacture film.

You may want to save the world for Christ, but as John of the Cross teaches, Christ may want you to do nothing more than pray for the missionaries who need your prayers to do their work. You may be a priest who wants to build the megachurch, but Christ may want you to do nothing more than live a simple holy life as an example to others. We can remember the great theologians and missionaries who did heroic things, but the Cure D’Ars did nothing more than hear confessions for hours at a time. He also saved many people.

I am always concerned about the save the world people, because I feel that many of them are really nothing more than self-deluded narcissists who are indeed doing great harm in the guise of what they consider good.

When we talk about being Catholic Revolutionaries, we need to define who is in charge. That person is Christ and, therefore, those who hear his voice and act on it are indeed the true Catholic revolutionaries. Remember the words of Jesus: his mother and his brothers are those who do the will of God.(Matt 12:48) When we are, indeed, doing the will of God, we are quite revolutionary even if we are doing something simple.

The focus of the 2008 presidential primary election season was bringing change. God calls for change as well, but it is a change of hearts, not of governments. Jesus called his listeners to repent; he never demanded that they overthrow the government. Nor did He call for acts of terrorism in any, way, shape or form. The same can be said for Paul who demanded support for the emperor despite the fact that the emperor ultimately had him executed.

Paul’s execution, however, became the seed that led to great fruit. As for the emperor, his empire not only is no more, it did not even last as long as that for which Paul gave his life, Christ’s church. In our human mind, we may consider Paul a lunatic on the fringes of society who gave his life for naught. In our faith, we see the will of God come to fruition and actively use everything that Paul gave for the Church. His death is not irrelevant, but the exclamation point at the end of a life of service for God. Paul did the will of the Father and sacrificed his life for His church. He not only did great things after his encounter with Jesus, his life spread many seeds that helped build the kingdom.

We need to listen to Christ to understand what he calls us to do and realize we may not be called to convert China like St. Francis Xavier. We may not be called to rebuild the Church like St. Francis of Assisi. We may not be called to build hospitals like Mother Cabrini. We may be called to be nothing more than a simple Catholic faithful father, mother, priest, religious brother or sister, lay man or woman. However, if that is all Christ wants of us and we deliver, then that is a great and powerful thing.

As you begin your tomorrow, do everything with true dedication to God, but realize that in your serving Him, you may never experience the joy of being the hero. However, if you do your job well, you will be hero to so many. The tollbooth operator who smiles while returning change, the janitor who keeps the school clean for the student, the bus driver who remains patient at the quirks of others, the priest who preaches well and with vision all of these serve God in silence, but they do serve God and serve him well.

From the book Be Catholic Agents for Change by Fr. Robert J. Carr

(Please note: book link is to site not affiliated with Canção Nova and New Song.)