From Ordinary to Extraordinary
Posted on: May 30, 2013
- In: Everyday Life | Faith
- 2 Comments
But if we are the body
Why aren’t His arms reaching?
Why aren’t His hands healing?
Why aren’t His words teaching?
– Casting Crowns, “If We Are the Body”
Most of us are ordinary people. Or so we tell ourselves and others.
We take care of our families, work at or outside the home, and keep our households running. Pretty regular stuff.
We hear or read about people who care for both ill children and ageing parents, who survive a battle with cancer, or who raise incredible sums for charity. Their incredible compassion, inner strength, conviction, or whatever quality we admire in them strikes us as unique—and that uniqueness seems to be proof of our ordinariness.
While looking at the readings in the Sunday Missal for this Sunday’s feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, I read something that challenges this way of thinking. Teresa Whalen Lux shared some thoughts on the subject:
In the (E)ucharist, it’s not only the bread and the wine that become the Body and Blood of Christ; so do you and I. Ordinary and insignificant as we may be, our participation in the (E)ucharist transforms each one of us into the Body of Christ, alive in our world today.
Yes, God strengthens us through the Eucharist to face whatever the following six days hold, but he also empowers us to serve as Jesus’ hands and feet here on earth.
For some of us, that will mean making headlines through our work of building schools in developing countries, researching a cure for a life-threatening illness, or striving to enact pro-life legislation; for most of us, that will mean exercising our vocation of stay-at-home parent, teacher, pilot or office manager out of the spotlight. For all of us, it will mean working for God’s glory and not our own, and for an eternal reward rather than an earthly one.
But whether we’re a household name or we’re known only to our circle of family and friends, we’re all on a mission: the Scriptures plainly tell us we’re called to share the gospel message of redemption, reconciliation and love with those who haven’t heard it and with those who need to hear it again.
On a mission from God as the Body of Christ…Feeling less ordinary now?
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2 Responses to "From Ordinary to Extraordinary"
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A Catholic Convert in Ottawa 
May 30, 2013 at 11:28 am
And by giving glory to God through our works, whether great or small, we do exactly what we need to do in order that God will raise us up in glory. Thank you for your thoughtful post. God bless!
May 30, 2013 at 11:38 am
Thanks for the encouragement!