The power of that tiny pinpoint of light made a deep and lasting impression on me. It brought to mind ideas such as the following, which prepared the way for the Christopher movement:
• Partaker in the Divine. In every human being, Almighty God instills a small but important bit of divine power.
• Every light in every human counts. People will make great progress toward changing the world for the better as one person after another recognizes his power to light at least one tiny flame.
• Each person is needed. Many people will quickly abandon the feeling that they do not count and will lead forceful, worthwhile lives once they realize how much their pinpoint of light is needed. With it, they can pierce the gloom and raise the standards of public and private life.
• A mission to fulfill. Christ reminds us constantly that every person without exception has a mission to fulfill. That mission is to bring the light and warmth of His love to the world: “Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:16).
Through the years, the simple objective of the Christopher movement has been to encourage millions of people to be “candle lighters” who will do something positive and constructive to right what is wrong with the world.
— Father James Keller, M.M.
– One –
A Sense of Purpose
I’m the third of seven children. I’m the only priest or nun in the family. Of the seven, I’ve heard my mom say that I was the least likely to have followed this path. I try not to take that personally — and honestly, that’s not hard. I wouldn’t have picked me either! Until shortly before I joined the seminary, I had no plans, thoughts, or even interest in being a priest. It just happened. At least that’s how it felt at the time. My roommate in college was discerning a call to the priesthood and that intrigued me. With the goal of encouraging him, I set up and then accompanied him on visits to seminaries. He never joined, but I did. Then he asked me for permission to ask my girlfriend out on a date. Reluctantly, I gave him the okay, and they are now married with eight children. I’ve been blessed to give most of them their first Communion.
That might sound like a Cinderella story. It doesn’t feel like one to me. And I’m pretty sure it doesn’t feel like one for my roommate or his wife. We are all very happy with the path we have followed in answer to God’s call, but it hasn’t been easy. Cinderella stories on television and in sports start off hard and end in bliss. In the things that truly matter, no matter how we start off, bliss rarely shows up to stay. Instead, we struggle daily to live up to the lifelong choices we made long ago.
Does that sound too somber? I write it with a smile. I couldn’t be happier that God called me to the life he has. It’s not a happiness that comes from things in my life being easy or going my way. My joy comes from a deep confidence that God created me because he wanted me, no matter how things feel or go. He made me because he loved me even before my family knew me. He did this because he wanted also for me to know, love, and serve him in this life and to be with him forever in the next.
It would be fair to ask how I know this. I know it by faith. I know it too, at a different level, with my head and heart. By this I mean that I’m not torn between what my brain tells me and what my faith tells me. I believe it with all that I am. So much so, in fact, that I would bet my life on it. And I have.
This faith in God and his plan for me translates into a purpose-driven life, as my friend Pastor Rick Warren describes it. Father Keller saw in the Scriptures and in his Catholic faith that God is the author of our purpose. Jesus said that we are called to be light and seasoning for a dark and dull world. He invited us to “put out into the deep,” to embark on the adventure of navigating salvation history for our own souls and for our neighbor. There was, perhaps, no other topic more dear to the heart of Father Keller than this conviction that you and I are created by God with a unique mission, and that if we discover our mission and work to fulfill it, we can change the world.
Do you know what your purpose is? Have you begun to fulfill your mission? Listen now to Father Keller’s inspiring presentation of what God is calling you to do and be.
— Father Jonathan
– Your Special Mission –
The expression, “man with a mission,” appears occasionally in newspapers and magazine articles. It is a fit reference to a person who manages to keep his ideals high, his goal big, his vision clear, and who displays dogged determination in putting his convictions to work.
Such a person can do much to shape for the better the world in which he lives. Those without any purpose bigger than self rarely do anything worthwhile and usually turn out to be bores even to themselves.
We of the Christophers are constantly striving to arouse a sense of mission in millions of people. We try to remind one and all that God has assigned to each of them a special mission in life to perform.
Yes, you — whoever or wherever you are — have been personally given a particular role to play on the stage of life which has been given to no one else. God will provide every help to assist you in playing your role well. If you cooperate, the world itself will be better because you have been in it.
“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt losesits taste, with what can it be seasoned?”
Matthew 5:13
GUIDE ME, O DIVINE MASTER, TO FOLLOW THE PLAN
THAT YOU HAVE ASSIGNED TO ME.
– Into the Deep –
“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir one’s blood. Make big plans, aim high in hope and work” is the advice of one expert. You will never bring out the bit of greatness within you, if you set your sights low.
No matter how insignificant your role in life may seem, it is important. You have been delegated by God Almighty to help a world which too few are bothering to try and save. Evildoers are not content to defile the few. They have daring plans to debase and enslave all of mankind.
You are endowed with a capacity to embrace the whole world and everybody in it with your love. The more you develop your own great potential by setting big goals for yourself, the more meaning and purpose you will add to your life while benefiting countless others.
Christ told the fishermen He chose as His apostles to overcome their inclination to smallness. He bade them tackle the task of fishing in a daring way.
“Put out into deep water and lower your netsfor a catch.”
Luke 5:4
LET ALL THAT I THINK, SAY, AND DO, O JESUS, BE MOTIVATED
BY DIVINE BIGNESS, NOT HUMAN SMALLNESS.
– Fully Alive –
A man on a hiking trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains came to the top of a hill and saw, just below the crest, a small log cabin. Its aged owner was sitting in front of the door, smoking a corncob pipe, and when the traveler drew close enough he asked the old man patronizingly: “Lived here all your life?”
“Nope,” the old mountaineer replied patiently. “Not yet.”
However long or short it may be, there is time ahead for all of us to live our days with high purpose. When we lose this sense of purpose in life, we have lost an important part of life itself. Living each day fully is a vital part of being a Christopher.
“Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrowwill take care of itself.”
Matthew 6:34
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