Why does my life matter?

Recently I decided to work in a nearby café and was seated next to a couple at lunch. At first, I barely registered their conversation until I heard the young woman say, “But of the billions of people who have ever lived, why am I unique? When I die, why would anyone remember me? Why does my life matter?

Her companion did his best to offer words of reassurance – that she was a unique composite of every significant person and experience that she had known; that she touched others in a distinct way. Yet it was clear that his words failed to satisfy, and the conversation swiftly moved on.

I suspect most people have grappled with her questions at some point – they go to the heart of our identity and the purpose of our existence.

As Catholics, we recognise that each person is unique not because of their experiences in this life but because God has intentionally and individually created us in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). Afterall, the Lord called Jeremiah to be a prophet with the words “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you.” (Jeremiah 1:5).

We were specifically created by the God who knows us more intimately than we know ourselves. He has willed us to live in this time and place, with certain charisms and gifts. From before the time we existed, He designated a role specifically for each of us in salvation history, which He is now inviting us to fulfil.

We will shortly celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost when people across our Archdiocese and the world will participate in the Sacrament of Confirmation. This Sacrament completes our initiation, perfects baptismal grace, and “…is a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost.” (CCC 1302). By sharing in the Holy Spirit, we open ourselves to a more complete reception of the seven gifts that enable us to see and act in union with God: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude (courage), piety, and fear of the Lord (CCC 1831).

This is a powerful reminder that while we receive the same seven gifts, we will exercise them in distinct ways to fulfil our personal mission of bringing God into the world and helping to build His kingdom. That the God who can do anything, chooses to make us His collaborators.

We see the diverse ways that these gifts can be used in the lives of the Saints. No two Saints lived the same lives or followed the same route to sanctity. Rather, there are as many ways to be a Saint as there are people. Our sanctity is not found in trying to emulate another but in embracing our God-given identity and His invitation for our lives.

The truth is that we are unique because we were individually willed into existence by the God of all love, who knew us prior to our creation and walks with us every day of our lives. God has designated a mission for each of us that is also our personal path to holiness. We are unique because accepting this call allows His love to shine through us into the world in a way that only we can.