Do Something Great!

“It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human…” Pope John Paul II

I had an issue with parking. Yes, it is a banal example, but it is something that really bothered me. I called the company since I was overcharged. Twice, they hung up the phone on me and then I had to escalate the situation to the manager. It was not a pretty situation. I did get my refund two weeks later. I had to go through an unnecessary ordeal for nothing. It was the mediocrity that bothered me, not so much the price I had paid. It was not the first time. Once, at mass, I was sitting quietly with my phone in hand.  It has many prayers, apps and other things on it which I use while I pray. The sacristan came up to me and he told me to put my phone away. I looked at him in disgust. Did he think I was on social media or something? I complained to the pastor whom I knew, just to tell him that the comment was totally unnecessary.

“Ask with tears, seek with obedience, knock with patience.” St. John Climacus

How many saints went through strife? Likely all of them. Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that 'The saints are the permanent catechesis given to us....' Recently, it was the feast of St. Catherine of Siena. She was 33 when she died but she made her time on earth fruitful. She worked with the poor and the ill, was mystical, but most importantly, she encouraged the pope to return to Rome from Avignon. She was not mediocre. She was brilliant and named a doctor of the Church. She did not settle for whatever came her way, but she moved. Stagnating is not a quality that comes from God. Bl. Anthony Neyrot was an Italian Dominican priest who was captured and brought to Tunisia. In exchange for better treatment, he renounced his faith. At one point, he even married, but upon hearing the news of the death of St. Antoninus of Florence (he appeared to Bl. Anthony in a dream), he returned to the Catholic faith and was martyred for it. Mediocrity was not on this menu. How many of us would be willing to die for Christ?

“Jealousy is the tribute which mediocrity pays to genius.” Fulton J. Sheen

I had a pear tree in my backyard. It was not producing fruit anymore. I was going to cut it down when my parish priest was over for dinner. When I told him my plans, he reminded me of what Jesus had said. Give it one more year I was told. Then see what happens. Are we willing to give things one more year, one more try or one more effort or do we settle for mediocrity? We need to be patient, but we also need to keep fighting, too. I was dealing with a situation recently and I was ready to throw in the towel. After a conversation with my friends in the Carmelite Cloister, I tried one more time to resolve the problem. This one worked. When I emailed the nuns about this, the answer was, “Leave the rest in God’s powerful hands. You did your part.” Of course, this is always the best answer!

“Do not be satisfied with little things, because God wants great things.” St. Catherine of Siena