Evangelization Outreach / Jenny Bryans

Mundane ‘superpowers’ and our call to use them for God’s glory

“What is your mundane superpower?” This is a fun question my daughter asks someone when she is getting to know them. A mundane superpower is a unique gift or talent that you recognize in yourself or that someone else has seen in you. These truly are gifts from God that make us unique and special.

It seems like a silly question, but it is such a vital question to ask ourselves and others we meet.

Special gifts are given by God to all! We often don’t see them because we are focusing too much on what we can’t do, or we think our gifts are small and insignificant.

“Superpowers” or gifts also coincide with our struggles or challenges. So often those with a disability have incredible gifts that are not recognized because we tend to focus on what they “can’t do.”

I recently learned of a friend’s superpower when I picked him up for lunch. I have a terrible sense of direction, and I often rely on my phone maps app to tell me how to get anywhere.

My friend, David, who is blind, kindly let me know that I wouldn’t need my phone map, because he can tell me how to get to the restaurant quicker. He proceeded to give me precise directions and tell me what intersection I was approaching before I could read the street sign. I was in awe of his spatial awareness and guidance. This is one of his superpowers!

What is your mundane superpower? Do we listen to God’s calling to use our gifts? What about those we know or are getting to know in our parishes; do we know what gifts they have? God gives us just the right mundane superpowers to lean us in the right direction, but we still need the guidance of our Father, Son and Holy Spirit to use those gifts for his glory.

In the Gospel of Luke, we read about four men who open their hearts and use their gifts to bring a paralyzed man to Jesus:

“But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus” (Lk 5:19).

These four men show us what it means to use “superpowers” for God’s glory! They put their faith and love into action and gave this man hope.

Isn’t that what each of us is called to do?

Jesus calls us to open our hearts and use our gifts and recognize others’ gifts so that all may experience Jesus, no matter what the cost or effort.

What bold efforts are we doing to make sure all those who need and want to experience Jesus get that opportunity? Gifts from God are called charisms given by the Holy Spirit for the good of the community. To learn more about charisms or how to discover your spiritual gifts, go to stjohnsindy.org/charisms.

The gifts God gives us are meant to be used and shared. In this case, it is good to “re-gift”!
 

(Jenny Bryans is the archdiocese’s Disabilities Ministries Coordinator. She can be reached at jbryans@archindy.org.) †