TWENTY FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
In reading the lives of some very famous people, I am amazed at how so many of them were told, in their childhood, that they would amount to nothing, simply because they showed no promises earlier in their lives. Take a look at Winston Churchill, who in his junior years seemed so dull that his father thought he might be incapable of earning a living in life. How about Charles Darwin, who did so poorly in school that his father once told him, "You will be a disgrace to yourself and to your family”. Look at G.K. Chesterton, who was told by one of his teachers, in his early school years, "If we could open your head we should not find any brain but only a lump of white fat." Thomas Edison was nearly convinced by his father that he was a “dunce”, and Albert Einstein did so badly in high school, except in mathematics, that one of his teachers asked him to drop out. The good news is that each and every one of these great men was able to crawl out of the boxes into which they had been relegated.
Who do people say that you are? In life, you need to be careful not to let the pronouncements of others derail your purpose. There is a God-given-place, within each of us, where we have enough graces to excel, enough talents to shine, enough gifts to become what God has purposed us to be. It is not about what other people have said; it is about what you have chosen and decided to be. Therefore make the choice to become the best version of yourself. There is no one else like you. You are the best God has given to you to work with. Therefore, do a very good job with it, because that is all you got.
My friends, when it comes to relating to others and what we say, let us remember the words of Scripture: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29).
