Acts 20:17-27 Ps 68:10-11, 20-21 Jn 17:1-11a

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer The Daily Reflections

When I was younger I loved to read a blue book with stars on the front. In addition to Saints, it was filled with remarkable people whose lives epitomized what it meant to live for the greater glory of God. Instead of calling them Saints, they called them “Heroes of Faith.”

Paul is a remarkable Biblical hero. It is hard to imagine how he must have felt as he preached the Gospel, despite knowing that he would probably be executed. Paul didn’t make a decision in a moment to be a hero. For his entire time as a missionary, he knew what could happen. Every day, he chose to be heroic, to make the biggest impact he could.

I often wonder if I could be a hero if the time called for it. Today Paul shows us that being a martyr wasn’t a onetime decision. It was a lifetime of choices. Being a hero of faith is something we all have the opportunity to do, every day. It means living each day with character and dignity and having the greatest impact on the greatest number of people we can.

After all, isn’t that what we are supposed do, to continue Christ’s mission here on earth? As he says in the Gospel,

“And now I will no longer be in the world,
but they are in the world, while I am coming to you." -John 17:11a