Pay it forward. We’ve all heard that phrase before; we have been blessed and challenged with different talents and life situations, our task in life is to use them for the greater glory of God. On Creighton University’s Online Ministries portal you will find a prayer that I begin my day with:
…Please help me to clarify and purify my actions and intentions…my activity seems to be full of busyness, chasing after things that don’t seem to matter or last…May all that I am today, all that I try to do today, may all my encounters, reflections, even the frustrations and failings all place my life in your hands…
How do we pay it forward? The seeds of our life our scattered throughout our day, some will land on fertile soil and grow like the mustard seed, others will not. Whether they reach a full life is not in our control, our task is to plant those seeds, fertilize and care for them, whether the seeds are helping troubled youth like St. John Bosco, whose feast day is today, having lunch with someone who is bullied at school, or checking in on a lonely, elderly neighbor.
—Jim Bozik is a permanent deacon at St. Peter Catholic Church in Charlotte, NC, the Jesuit parish in the Diocese of Charlotte.