Sept. 20, 2023

By Father William Muench
NCC columnist

A saint is an ordinary person who does little things extraordinarily well.

Jesus began his ministry by choosing ordinary people as disciples. They were not accomplished scripture scholars, or such. The very first to be called were the three fishermen: Peter, James, John. They were friends of Jesus they had probably knew his teachings and plans. Now Jesus calls them to reach out to others they could easily said that they were not prepared. They were just ordinary people. However, we know now that the influence of Jesus transformed them. They became extraordinary an apostles – a foundation for our church.

We also read in the gospels that one night during his early ministry. Jesus spent the night in prayer. The next day, the Lord gathered his disciples and chose 12 to be his apostles. They were to work closely with Jesus to spread the to spread the word. In every case they were ordinary followers of the Lord Jesus. With the power of the Lord and the Holy Spirit, they became the extra ordinary foundation of our Catholic Church.

God still calls many to follow Jesus as Christians today. We, Christians, are called to bring faith to others – all of us ordinary Christians. Through baptism, we are called to dedicate our lives, to live well as disciples of the Lord. Through the Holy Eucharist, we receive the support to become extraordinary disciples of Jesus. Our vocation as Catholics is to transfer my world to Jesus, to make what is ordinary extraordinary for Jesus

Let’s talk about priests. I can tell you my seminary friends and classmates were very ordinary people. Many of us, including myself, had many concerns about our worthiness to be Catholic priests. We were too ordinary. I can tell you I found wisdom and understanding as I meditated on the original apostles, read the lives of the saints and talked to priest, friends and teachers, who showed me that the Lord transformed so many into the kind of extraordinary priest that he needed. Every priest must find the help and power of the Holy Spirit to become transformed by the love of our God and become good, even extraordinary, disciples of the Lord.

The Lord continues to make our Catholic Church truly the people of God, leading all of us to the love, and the following of the Lord Jesus. However, our Catholic Church needs us all to be followers of the Lord Jesus.

Many think of themselves as just being ordinary Catholics.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, we will all find the wisdom and understanding to be good, even extraordinary, disciples of the Lord.