Becoming a Hero.

When I was in elementary school, my mother gave me the best gift a boy could get. She gave me a cape. Not just any cape – a cape that she had specially made for me that even had my own special symbol on the back. More than the cape she had given me the license to be what I had always wanted to be – a superhero. You know, as an adult, I’ve found many days where I was wishing I could put that cape back on and fight for justice. All I needed was that cape, and a mask. Well, and of course, I’m going to need some superpowers.

I would first have the power to fly – because this would save me a lot of gas. And when you are fighting for justice you really can’t be filling up for gas all the time.

I would want the power to predict the winning lottery numbers for the next week, because being a superhero seems to be an expensive profession with all the crazy gadgets they have – and I’m going to need some funding.

I would want the power to give people right judgment, and the first person I would use it on is Brett Favre, and the second would be the management of the Milwaukee Brewers.

I would have the super power to create food out of dust, so I could feed the hungry.

I would want the power to make a difference in the world, a lasting change, the power to end war, poverty, hatred, violence, and to help heal people’s hearts.

But as I think about it more, I realize that those things are impossible. I can’t fly. I still haven’t been able to predict the correct lottery numbers. Brett Favre is still going to play for the Vikings. More than that though, I realize I can’t be a superhero because I don’t have the power to feed the hungry, heal the hurting, or to change the world. Some days it’s hard enough just to change myself. It seems to be far more difficult to be a hero.

But maybe my thinking is off, after all, a true hero is not self-proclaimed, rather, they are ordinary people who do extraordinary things when they are called on – it is about a moment when it all comes together. Next Sunday at 6:00 PM the LifeTeen Mass and LifeNights begin again at the Waldo Blvd Worship Site. I want to call on all teenagers to realize their heroic potential this year. Often times, we don’t see ourselves as heroes – maybe because the opportunity has never been presented to us to become one. Next Sunday, we offer you the occasion to be a part of something extraordinary when LifeTeen begins. You don’t need to bring your mask and cape, because you won’t need them. God is calling just you. LifeTeen is not just about teenagers, it’s about a whole community. So I call on parents to consider the ways you may be able to support the ministry through our new program “Parent Life,” of which more information will be available next week. Next week at 6:00 pm, LifeTeen Mass begins with a LifeNight to follow. All parishioners are welcome to the Mass, and high school teens in grades 9-12 are invited to come to the LifeNight afterward and find out just how heroic you can be.