(the cover photo is me helping my girlfriend’s brother change the headlight bulb 💡 in his car 🚗)

For the past few weeks, I completed a challenge by attending morning daily mass. While attending daily masses, our pastor discussed in his homilies the importance of praying for the dead: the souls in purgatory, the priests who have been forgotten after their deaths, and those people who suddenly died without having the opportunity to repent and make peace. His homilies on death and the people who have been forgotten over time reminded me of our own mortality and that life is lived in the present – not in the past nor in the future.

When our pastor talked about praying for the forgotten priests, I was reminded of a time I went to confession and shared with the priest my bitterness of feeling unappreciated for being generous with my time, talent and treasure. This priest, who heard my confession, is now retired and hasn’t been seen in our parish since the pandemic started. Father told me, “Just relax and know that the world doesn’t revolve around you”. Ouch. 😵

If my feelings of being unappreciated hurt me, just think about how people eventually became forgotten over time. The only times priests will be remembered after their deaths are their names on a person’s baptismal certificate and on a booklet published by the archdiocese that has their death anniversaries, along with the readings and reflections for each day of the week.

This past April, I had the opportunity to drive to Colorado from California and visit my aunt, whom I call Mama. I spent my high school years in Colorado, because my father had passed away in my last year of middle school and his wish was for me to be with my Mama if anything happened to him.

During my visit, I visited my high school and spoke with the alumni director and school board members. While conversing with them, I noticed a portrait of our late school chaplain, Father Myers. Our school board member told me that his goal is to be like Father Myers, serving our high school the best he can with the help of God’s grace.

Back in my senior year of high school, Father Myers sent me reflections every few months (hooray for being an honor student 🙌). While those reflections didn’t make an immediate impact in my life at that time as a teenager, it resonated more as an adult with life experience, especially when it came to serving. While Father Myers at that time was already an elderly man who couldn’t do daily mass for us at school, he still found a way to serve by sending us reflections. Father Myers passed away in 2009, and his spirit of service still lives on in our high school because of his dedication to the community.

Before leaving, the alumni director gave me a booklet of our school’s history. Our class was highlighted in the booklet, because of the legacy we left. I felt a sense of pride being a part of our class and how we turned out after 15 years. One of our classmates is a captain in the military. Another is a coach for the national boxing team. Another is a professional wrestler. Some are lawyers. Some serve in the Army and Air Force. Some are small business owners. Some are real estate agents. Some are software engineers and project managers. Some are teachers and nurses. And many are mothers, who have the toughest job in this world being all of the above for their children.

Why do I think our class left a legacy the way we did and still make an impact to this day? Because we serve others, finding ways to give back, whether we realize it or not.

• 

• 

A few of Fr. Myers’s reflections: “The Savior” (pictured left) and “The World We Live In” (pictured right)

When I completed a marathon race in 2014, I cried after running the race. I cried not only because I fulfilled a goal I had trained for more an entire summer out of a broken heart that experienced rejections, but also because my mom and dad were not there at the finish line to see me. While it felt great crossing an item off the bucket list and sharing on social media, there was a feeling of emptiness that I couldn’t share it with my parents and those closest to me.

We attract the right partner and relationships by being someone of great value who shares their blessings and kindness without expectation.

We earn more money by serving our clients and solving problems, taking the lead on projects and doing the work most aren’t willing to do.

We grow in faith and spirit by serving community and by being the reason someone smiles today. Faith without action and service is wishful thinking.

This past year, many milestones in my own life were accomplished. Getting promoted in my career a second time. Becoming a homeowner. Purchasing my car after leasing it. Showing my girlfriend my world in progress. What made these milestones different this time around was that they were not only shared with my girlfriend and mother, but had them in mind as a part of my future plans. After all, what good is personal success if you have no one to share it with?

One of these days, the words of Noy Sauce will be forgotten. Those feelings of being unappreciated in the past were stepping stones in humbling myself to accept our mortality and to accept that our gifts and blessings in life are meant to be shared. After all, “we are happiest when we give it away, for it always comes back double” (from Fr. Myers’s “The Savior” reflection).

However, the impact will be felt in some way – like Father Myers’s reflections, my pastor’s homilies on death, and the words of the now-retired priest who heard my confession – have made in my life. To move things forward with new ways of thinking based on Catholic principles as a moral compass, so the next generation won’t struggle the way we did. To help others so we can grow in love and “be all we can be” (from Fr. Myers’s “The World We Live In” reflection). And to be the reason someone smiles today, attracting the right partner and relationships in the process.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us plenty of opportunities to serve. It is through service we find joy in our lives and leave a legacy bigger than ourselves. I’m sorry for those times I was frustrated along the journey, raising my hands in defeat and wanting to give up, because of my own ego. We pray for all souls in purgatory, the priests who have been forgotten after their deaths, and those who suddenly passed away without having the chance to repent and make peace in this world. We also pray for Your grace to answer Your call to serve others and be instruments of Your peace. To share not only our time, talent, and treasure, but also our tenderness with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

In the process, we attract the right people, earn what we desire, and grow in faith and spirit in a way that is fulfilling. In this we pray, Amen.