To Save a Soul…

As a Catholic priest and military chaplain, I often have to push myself to endure and go beyond the typical bureaucratic approach and limitations to be an effective, caring, and honest minister…

As priests and chaplains, we have to wear two hats: being priests and pastors for the Catholic community and faithful, while doing our required military chaplaincy duties and responsibilities. To be honest, it can get hard at times, and working for the government, the structural bureaucracy, and red tape can get frustratingly tiring and discouraging. On top of that, we are all human beings with our own physical and mental limitations, even though we desire to do all that we can to spiritually and pastorally care for those who are entrusted to us.

At times, natural thought process leads me to believe that I am not doing enough… No matter how much I try, it seems like I do not have enough time or energy to care for everyone… Reality reminds me that I am a human person who is getting older every day, so I do not have the stamina I used to have as a younger man! Without a doubt, this is a question that arises in my mind and keeps me up some nights, especially when a hard situation gets too personal or too close to my heart. I often sit down and reflect on other possibilities that I could have done better to stop the person from hurting themselves, being too lost in their own self-created way of life, or simply giving in to personal despair, hopelessness, and darkness. Nonetheless, I have learned from being a recovered perfectionist that I cannot do everything except for doing my best with all that I am in genuine, caring, and gentle love for others in the present moment. Also, I have to constantly remind myself that things will never be perfect, but they do not have to be in order for life to be full of goodness. Even in the midst of many shortcomings, limitations, and failures, there is GRACE there!

We are all reminded that salvation is not dependent on us, for we are simply children of the Heavenly Father, disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, and instruments of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is not dependent on us, because His grace is able to bring into fulfillment what we ourselves can never do or ever imagine! It is a humbling experience, but a sober reality, for us to remember our place and not be too hard on ourselves, for there is only one Savior and Redeemer. We cannot save everyone or do everything, for we can only do what is able, and He will work in and through our shortcomings and limitations if we unite everything that we have said and done through our very own life of prayerful discernment, reflection, self-giving abandonment, and complete trust in His goodness. It is a liberation to recognize that God is not dependent on us to save others, even though we can, at times, play an important and instrumental part! We offer Him our talents, blessings, gifts, as well as our brokenness and its limitations, so He can work in and through us.

We know that we are free when we stop thinking that we have to be successful and in control of everything for it to be worthwhile and effective. As mentioned before, I am a recovered perfectionist, and I try to remind myself and learn daily of how to trust in Him and allow other people’s contributions, their gifts, and limitations, to be a great part of my discernment instead of having things my way! It was hard for me to learn at first, and it is still challenging at times, too, to remember that when I discern and am able to empower other people’s gifts, no matter how imperfect things would be, they are all works of grace because God can bring into fulfillment what we had begun and can never imagine.

It is important to be genuine and transparent to oneself, too! If we simply do things because they are our pet projects, we want to make a name or prove ourselves, or to be in control, then we have done nothing except to objectify and manipulate others instead of cooperating with our brothers and sisters who are collaborators in the Lord’s vineyards. One of the hardest lessons that I had to learn when I was recovering from my own self-made perfectionism was to be reminded that it is not all dependent on me or about me — no matter how much we would like to think or have many good intentions as we wish. If people do not really have “buy-in,” collaborate, and are empowered to make matters their own, whatever we have done or built will go to waste once we move on, because it was never about others and simply about us and what we wanted for ourselves.

The hardest reality is to accept that life is imperfect and we cannot do everything nor be able to have everything we have desired or wanted, but there is GRACE there! Our life, mission, identity, and self-worth are not dependent on our objective effectiveness but on knowing who we are in Him and allowing ourselves to be His very own children, disciples, and instruments of grace. Other people’s salvation is not dependent on us, for it is also dependent on their very own way of life and choices as well. We can never be perfect or make things perfect, but we can allow ourselves to be His instruments of love through our very own life and deeds, words, and actions. To save a soul takes a personal and creative discernment, approach, response, and action plan that is dependent on God and the other side’s cooperation with grace! We can only do our best to guide, assist, and plant the seeds of faith until the other person is willing to drink from the fullness of His love.

So, what does it take to save a soul? Perhaps this is a very hard question to answer because it is not to be objectified, quantified, or measured in the eyes of the world. The answer is complicated because it would entail us to do all that we can to save a soul from perdition, to bring those who are lost, destructive to themselves and others, and hopeless in life so they can be free from the enslavement to sin, this world, and everything that the Devil and his minions are doing to keep us away from the eternal reward. It is not an easy question to answer because the evil ones are doing their best to kill a soul and cut it off from the truth so that it will be worldly worried, vainly lived, insecurely empty, and eternally miserable.

Of course, we should do everything that we can to genuinely love, guide, and bring the one who is lost back to the Lord with heartfelt witness to the truth and personal testimony of His love for us. At times, it will also require us to admonish with charity and patience so they are not enabled but empowered to live as sons and daughters of Heavenly Father, disciples of Christ Jesus, and instruments of the Holy Spirit instead of objectified means and goods for others, enslaved to sin and its deceptions by the Devil, and pitiful because of their own self-made miseries. It will be tiring, challenging, and trying at times, but we must not give up, especially in prayer. We also have to recognize that he or she has his or her own free will to choose! No one is able, not even the Almighty Himself, can save a person if he or she is not willing to accept, be open to receive, and humbly change his or her life for goodness and truth because He has given each and every one of us the freedom to accept or reject His love.

Each of us should ask ourselves the personal questions of what we can do in order to live a life of humble service, loving charity, genuine kindness, and gentle teaching as to bring souls back to Christ! Many saints had said in the past, and St. Pope John Paul II, too, has affirmed that we need more witnesses of faith in this third millennium! We indeed preach louder when we desire to live our Christian discipleship in genuine faith, hope, and charity. If we do not live in humble service and choose to be His instruments in collaborating with others in His vineyards, we will burn ourselves out with bitterness, resentment, and destructive control issues.

To save a soul is worth every effort! However, we cannot do everything and have it as perfect or our way. It is a sober reminder that we are simply instrumental and there is only one Savior and Redeemer. It is humbling to see that God is able to do much more than we could have ever imagined, but He also cannot do much if one is not willing to change his or her life. Think about that for a second… He is able to do the extraordinary and bring about supernatural grace to save souls that are beyond our imagination, but He also respects our free will to receive, change, and cooperate with His love! Therefore, do everything genuinely out of love and pray for the other person. It might hurt at times, and it can cause much frustration, but we should never cease praying for them. May we understand our role and allow Him to work through us, with us, and in us to bring to fulfillment what He has begun so that we can genuinely become living witnesses and testimonies of His never-failing, never-ending, eternal, and transformative loving grace.