In God’s Plan of Salvation, We Are All Essential Workers

There are some amazing people out in the world doing amazing things right now to address the challenges we are facing. They have been deemed “essential” and rightly so!

Shout-out to all the essential workers out there! You are amazing!

But it’s so good to remember that, in God’s plan of salvation, each one of us is essential. We all have a unique part to play in reflecting His love and Light in the world.

In fact, we are irreplaceable!

There are some people who simply won’t experience God’s love if you or I fail to love them. That’s how crucial we are to God’s plans. The truth is, your love matters to a lot of people.

So please don’t take who you are for granted.

And please do not reduce who you are to the way you make a living. Sure, it’s a part of who you are — but it’s not the most important part — and it’s definitely not the part that most people you loved will focus on when thinking back on you and your life.

Let me tell you about a man I knew named Mario. Now anybody reading this who also knew Mario would likely say they just might have known an actual Saint. He really was special!

He lived a simple life, waiting tables. He did it faithfully, and people noticed the love he put into every single action. Then, he retired and began to wait at another Table — God’s Table — faithfully preparing the altar for Mass for many years.

There are stories shared about his holy, humble ways — like the time the man who opened the Church was running late and as he walked up to the doors of the Church, he found Mario standing quietly in the snow — waiting for the doors to be opened so he could go in and pray.

When you spoke with Mario, you only ever felt loved— like you were the most important person in the world. Every time he saw me, he asked me to let John know he was praying for him.

If you ever shared struggles or worries, Mario said he would pray for you — and you knew he would actually pray for you and your concerns. It wasn’t just a nice thing he said in conversation.

Towards the end of his life, sores on his legs began to fester with open wounds— it was so bad that people began to notice the smell of his flesh rotting. The pain must have been excruciating! He had a hard time walking — but never, not once, did he complain.

If there was ever a man who would have heard the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant”, it would have been Mario. Anybody who took the time to knew him would second those words.

I share this because — at the end of our days, many of us are likely going to be surprised by the magnificence of souls we never even noticed on the earth. The humble, simple souls who just did their very best to love the people around them with a pure heart, and to love and serve God in whatever way He asked them to. People like Mario — humble, faithful and way more magnificent than any of us could even imagine at the time.

So remember this, in God’s plan of salvation we all have a part to play. We all have people to love. We all have work to do.

Let’s not forget just how essential we are to reflecting God’s light and love to a world that is desperate for it.