Doing the Ordinary Extraordinarily Well, Leads to Holiness.
We live in the ordinary. We get up at the same time, have the identical breakfast, take the same route to school or work, and greet the same people in the same way. We even find the same ordinary routine after we arrive.
But in the Salesian family, we are tireless in reminding others of the magic of each ordinary moment and why they offer a grand opportunity to make each one a wondrous moment of praise to almighty God.
Great opportunities to praise God are infrequent but turning small acts into great acts of praise happen every day.(Francis de Sales)
Engaging the ordinary and relating it to what Francis de Sales called the “Direction of Intention” makes our ordinary, unique. The Direction of Intention is the foundation of Salesian spirituality:
My God, I give you this action please give me the grace to conduct myself during it in a manner most pleasing to you.
Saint Francis de Sales believes by reciting this small act of intention we turn each action into a holy act of praising the Lord. It offers to the Lord all the good before we even perform the act.
We request help by seeking God’s grace to assist us with our weaknesses, which may surface. De Sales believes that God is anxious to help, because when we do the right action, God’s kingdom grows.
Back in my seminary days I read the novel Morte D’Urban by J. F. Powers. The main character, Fr. Urban, preached a great many electrifying sermons on saints who had prayed for the martyr’s crown, but Father Urban believed there were many others whose lives might serve us better by remaining alive and healthy.
These were ordinary workers who did the work of the Church. For them, it was not about dying for the faith but living and building the faith. There was no thought of giving their lives for the church by dying. Instead, they provided time and talent for the church by staying alive.
God and his grace are found in every nook and cranny of the Church. We need only be aware and attentive. The people who do this are regular people who live heroic lives and do it simply and courageously.
These are asked to do “the ordinary, extraordinarily well.” It may not be easy to find vitality and vigor in the ordinary. This takes work, but it can be done. Why?
Our Salesian heritage tells us that everything in creation has God’s fingerprint on it.
This was common practice at Nativity Prep, the school where I presently minister. At first, we had to look beyond stereotypes to see the beauty and the gifts that lay beneath the students’ exterior. Each had a gift from God which had to be cultivated with life’s nutrients.
Anyone can discover his or her gifts. We need to:
Start with ourselves:
We are better than we think we are and not quite what we want to be.
We have more potential than we can imagine.
We are all made in God’s image. This awareness should excite us, not with arrogance, but with deep gratitude to the Lord who made us.
Saint Paul wrote, “In all circumstances give thanks.” Saint Ignatius Loyola wrote, “...ingratitude is one of the things most worthy of loathing.”
And live with these words from your heart: Good works done with love always bears good fruit. Love is the driving force that blows hate away. (Unknown.)
Gratitude builds the fundamental part of our relationship with God. Ingratitude is simply bad manners!
Gratitude helps us see that we have the necessary talents and gifts. They may be in the raw materials stage, but God gives us these to shape our life’s purpose – our own and others’ as well.
Gratitude brings optimism. Optimism about everything: faith, grace, mercy, second chances, and forgiveness. We never have to stay down. We can always stand up and walk forward again with God’s gift of grace.
Good works done with love always bears good fruit.
Love is the driving force that blows hate away!
VJ
(Live Jesus!)
