In Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Mission, John R. Wood writes “If you don’t become the saint you were created to be, you can’t play your part in God’s plan for salvation. If you don’t play your part in God’s plan for salvation, it won’t get played. If your part doesn’t get played, I assure you, souls may be lost!”

“If you don’t become the saint you were created to be…?” What is that all about? Do you see yourself as a saint? Surely God didn’t create all of us to be saints, did He? Well…yes He did! Each of us was created in His image and likeness, and given the freedom and opportunity to achieve sainthood. We are unique individuals, blessed with our own unique abilities, talents, and personalities. You are different from me and yet the same.

God created you to be you, to use your unique gifts, in your own way, for His glory. God did not create us to be facsimiles of others, to be cut from the same mold, to live, act, and behave exactly as others. God calls each of us to be our own self, not someone else. We cannot all be St. Francis of Assisi, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, or Blessed John Paul II. We are not all called to lead contemplative lives, join a religious order, be a ground-breaking scientist, or a brilliant mathematician.

What we are called to do is be the best that we can be; to use our God-given talents as He intended. For forty years the United Negro College Fund has had the slogan “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” No one should disagree with what that slogan invokes but I would suggest that God calls each of into being with the understanding that “A life is a terrible thing to waste.”

God gives us life and our lives belong to God. We are called to be saints, giving the best that we can to our creator. If, in giving our best effort, we fall short, God, through the Holy Spirit lifts us up and guides us. “In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will” [Rom 8:26-27].

We are reminded of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord. These gifts are given freely and graciously to each of us but they are not given to be locked away and used only for ourselves; they are given to us to be shared, to be used for the benefit of others, the glory of God, and the sanctification of our souls. They are the essential tools that we have been given so that each of us may personally achieve sainthood.