"Then he sent him home and said, 'Do not even go into the village.'" (Mark 8:26). How many times have we done something great and immediately asked for no one to know? Probably not very many. Jesus was able to do the things he did because he was God, just as he acted with complete humility because he was God. No one else had the abilities he had, and instead of showcasing them, he wished to remain anonymous. Whenever we have special abilities we can look at Jesus' example to determine how to use and not misuse our abilities.

In the movie, Bruce Almighty, Jim Carey played a character who was given the abilities of God for several days. He neglected some of his (God's) responsibilities, and misused his (God's) power to do things like buy a nice car, help people win the lottery, and help a team win the Stanley Cup. The movie attempted to demonstrate the power of God—at least the Hollywood view of God's power. We can still glean from this Hollywood interpretation that most people would not act as Jesus acted when given such powers.

Even though we will never have the power of God, we all have some special talents. We can look at Jesus as a role model of how to use our talents to help others while remaining humble. Saint Bernadette, for example, was given the grace of having apparitions of Mary. She remained humble and quiet despite ridicule and disbelief from others. The healing waters of Lourdes came about as a result of her apparitions. People from around the world experienced healing after washing in these waters. It is important to note that Bernadette died of cancer. She knew the waters of Lourdes were not for her.

St. Bernadette is one of many examples of people who are given special powers, talents, or privileges, yet she did not misuse them. We can look to people like Bernadette and like Jesus as an example for how use our talents, powers, and privileges.